Novel methods for measuring air–water interfacial area in unsaturated porous media

Brusseau, Mark L.; Ouni, A. El; Araujo, J. B.; Zhong, Hua

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2015.01.029

Cited by 35 publications

(62 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…This is identical to the independently measured value. The mean measured K d determined from the mass-balance tests for Vinton is 0.51, which is very similar to the independently measured value of 0.5 (Brusseau et al, 2007, 2015). These results indicate that the test procedures (extractions, chemical analysis) produced robust measures of tracer distribution.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 83%

“…The magnitude of the retardation corresponds to the magnitude of the interfacial area. The miscible-displacement (MD) IPTT data presented in the figures were previously reported by Brusseau et al (2007, 2015).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 85%

“…Included in Figures 1 and 2 are interfacial areas measured for the respective porous media using the miscible-displacement IPTT method (e.g., Kim et al, 1997; Saripalli et al, 1997; Brusseau et al, 2007, 2015). For this method, miscible-displacement tests are conducted under unsaturated flow conditions using an aqueous tracer solution.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Air-water interfacial areas measured with the mass-balance method for the soil; also included are literature values measured with the miscible-displacement IPTT method, designated in the legend as “IPTT” (Brusseau et al, 2007, 2015). …”

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

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Measuring air–water interfacial area for soils using the mass balance surfactant-tracer method

2015

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There are several methods for conducting interfacial partitioning tracer tests to measure air-water interfacial area in porous media. One such approach is the mass balance surfactant tracer method. An advantage of the mass-balance method compared to other tracer-based methods is that a single test can produce multiple interfacial area measurements over a wide range of water saturations. The mass-balance method has been used to date only for glass beads or treated quartz sand. The purpose of this research is to investigate the effectiveness and implementability of the mass-balance method for application to more complex porous media. The results indicate that interfacial areas measured with the mass-balance method are consistent with values obtained with the miscible-displacement method. This includes results for a soil, for which solid-phase adsorption was a significant component of total tracer retention.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 83%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 85%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

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Measuring air–water interfacial area for soils using the mass balance surfactant-tracer method

2015

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“…Corley et al (1996) showed that low concentrations of volatile organic compounds distribute in the bulk phases (air, water, and solid), adsorb to the air-water interface, and partition into intraparticle pores in unsaturated and saturated porous media. While it has been demonstrated in experiments that the gas-water interface poses a high potential for retardation (Brusseau et al, 1997;Costanza-Robinson and Brusseau, 2002b), determining the effective interfacial area, which controls the contaminant mass transfer, is still subject of intensive research (Goss, 2009;Kibbey and Chen, 2012;Brusseau et al, 2015). Mayes et al (2003) stated that immobile water in pores could act as a short-term sink and as a long-term source of potential contaminants.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental study on retardation of a heavy NAPL vapor in partially saturated porous media

Kleinknecht

Class

Braun

2017

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract. Non-aqueous-phase liquid (NAPL) contaminants introduced into the unsaturated zone spread as a liquid phase; however, they can also vaporize and migrate in a gaseous state. Vapor plumes migrate easily and thus pose a potential threat to underlying aquifers. Large-scale column experiments were performed to quantify partitioning processes responsible for the retardation of carbon disulfide (CS 2 ) vapor in partially saturated porous media. The results were compared with a theoretical approach taking into account the partitioning into the aqueous phase as well as adsorption to the solid matrix and to the air-water interface. The experiments were conducted in large, vertical columns (i.d. of 0.109 m) of 2 m length packed with different porous media. A slug of CS 2 vapor and the conservative tracer argon was injected at the bottom of the column followed by a nitrogen chase. Different seepage velocities were applied to characterize the transport and to evaluate their impact on retardation. Concentrations of CS 2 and argon were measured at the top outlet of the column using two gas chromatographs. The temporal-moment analysis for step input was employed to evaluate concentration breakthrough curves and to quantify dispersion and retardation. The experiments conducted showed a pronounced retardation of CS 2 in moist porous media which increased with water saturation. The comparison with an analytical solution helped to identify the relative contributions of partitioning processes to retardation. Thus, the experiments demonstrated that migrating CS 2 vapor is retarded as a result of partitioning processes. Moreover, CS 2 dissolved in the bulk water is amenable to biodegradation. The first evidence of CS 2 decay by biodegradation was found in the experiments. The findings contribute to the understanding of vapor-plume transport in the unsaturated zone and provide valuable experimental data for the transfer to field-like conditions.

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The two‐phase flow IPTT method for measurement of nonwetting‐wetting liquid interfacial areas at higher nonwetting saturations in natural porous media

Zhong

Ouni

Lin

et al. 2016

Water Resources Research

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Interfacial areas between nonwetting‐wetting (NW‐W) liquids in natural porous media were measured using a modified version of the interfacial partitioning tracer test (IPTT) method that employed simultaneous two‐phase flow conditions, which allowed measurement at NW saturations higher than trapped residual saturation. Measurements were conducted over a range of saturations for a well‐sorted quartz sand under three wetting scenarios of primary drainage (PD), secondary imbibition (SI), and secondary drainage (SD). Limited sets of experiments were also conducted for a model glass‐bead medium and for a soil. The measured interfacial areas were compared to interfacial areas measured using the standard IPTT method for liquid‐liquid systems, which employs residual NW saturations. In addition, the theoretical maximum interfacial areas estimated from the measured data are compared to specific solid surface areas measured with the N2/BET method and estimated based on geometrical calculations for smooth spheres. Interfacial areas increase linearly with decreasing W‐phase (water) saturation over the range of saturations employed. The maximum interfacial areas determined for the glass beads, which have no surface roughness, are 32 ± 4 and 36 ± 5 cm−1 for PD and SI cycles, respectively. The values are similar to the geometric specific solid surface area (31 ± 2 cm−1) and the N2/BET solid surface area (28 ± 2 cm−1). The maximum interfacial areas are 274 ± 38, 235 ± 27, and 581 ± 160 cm−1 for the sand for PD, SI, and SD cycles, respectively, and ∼7625 cm−1 for the soil for PD and SI. The maximum interfacial areas for the sand and soil are significantly larger than the estimated smooth‐sphere specific solid surface areas (107 ± 8 cm−1 and 152 ± 8 cm−1, respectively), but much smaller than the N2/BET solid surface area (1387 ± 92 cm−1 and 55224 cm−1, respectively). The NW‐W interfacial areas measured with the two‐phase flow method compare well to values measured using the standard IPTT method.

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Novel methods for measuring air–water interfacial area in unsaturated porous media

Cited by 35 publications

References 22 publications

Measuring air–water interfacial area for soils using the mass balance surfactant-tracer method

Measuring air–water interfacial area for soils using the mass balance surfactant-tracer method

Experimental study on retardation of a heavy NAPL vapor in partially saturated porous media

The two‐phase flow IPTT method for measurement of nonwetting‐wetting liquid interfacial areas at higher nonwetting saturations in natural porous media

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