Effects of Entrapped Bubble Formation on Flow Through Porous Media During Electrical Resistance Heating

In-situ thermal remediation technologies such as electrical resistance heating (ERH) have been used effectively to treat volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in a variety of subsurface conditions. Field applications have shown significant reductions in total contaminant mass over relatively short time periods. The mechanism of these technologies is well understood; the subsurface temperature is increased to boil the groundwater and the target contaminant is evaporated and rises to the surface where it is collected by vapor recovery wells. Recently there is increased interest in combining ERH with other approaches (e.g., addition of chemical oxidants or reductants). These coupled applications can be effective at temperatures well below boiling; however sustained groundwater flow is especially important for delivering remediation chemicals to the treatment zone. Since heating decreases the solubility of many gases, production of entrapped bubbles due to heating could have a significant impact on groundwater flow, although this has not been thoroughly studied. We are currently characterizing this process using a combination of physical and numerical models. Experimental results from a two-dimensional (2-D) bench-scale study using water saturated with carbon dioxide indicate substantial reduction in relative permeability when gas bubbles are created by heating. The volume of gas created can be described using simple functional relationships relating the volume of bubbles created to the increase in temperature. In turn, a capillary-saturation relationship can be used to relate the relative permeability of the soil to the volume of gas within the soil matrix. Several one-dimensional (1-D) column studies are conducted to measure the volume of gas created under a range of temperatures and dissolved gas concentrations. The resultant data are being used to calibrate a coupled fluid flow and energy transport model to predict the impact of bubble formation on flow during thermal remediation at the field scale.