Oscillatory Hydraulic Tomography for NAPL Source Zone Characterization: Sandbox Experiment Demonstration

Characterizing the distribution and extent of NAPL contamination is an important step in determining appropriate remedial actions. NAPL has a complex mode of transportation in the heterogeneous subsurface domain, which results in difficulties for cleaning up contaminated sites. Here, we use sandbox experiments to demonstrate the effectiveness of Oscillatory Hydraulic Tomography (OHT) for NAPL source zone characterization. In a saturated soil fluid system, the effective hydraulic conductivity (K) is dependent on the soil properties, fluid density, and fluid viscosity. By taking advantage of the differences of fluid properties before and after NAPL intrusion, we can estimate the NAPL source zone migration throughout time by imaging changes in effective K. Using OHT testing, we can derive the K heterogeneities before, during and after NAPL intrusion. NAPL source zone can be located by subtracting the background K from the K tomogram after NAPL intrusion. This approach can avoid mass extraction and injection that occurs in traditional hydraulic tomography approaches while obtain a good estimation of subsurface K heterogeneity and NAPL migration. We believe this method is more cost effective and efficient for field remediation applications.