title: Multidimensional validation of a numerical model for simulating a DNAPL release in heterogeneous porous media.
abstract: A fixed-volume release of 1,2-DCE, tracked in space and time with a light transmission/image analysis system, provided a data set for the infiltration, redistribution, and immobilisation of a dense non-aqueous phase liquid (DNAPL) in a heterogeneous porous medium. The two-dimensional bench scale flow cell was packed with a spatially correlated, random heterogeneous distribution of six sand types. In order to provide the necessary modelling parameters, detailed constitutive relationships were measured at the local scale for the six sands. These experiments revealed that nonwetting phase (NWP) relative permeability-saturation (k(rN)-S(W)) relationships are strongly correlated to sand type. Trends in the best-fit k(rN)-S(W) parameters reflected a positive correlation between mean grain diameter and the maximum NWP relative permeability, k(rN)(max). Multiphase flow simulations of the bench scale experiment best reproduced the experimental observations, producing excellent matches in both time and space, when the measured, correlated local scale k(rN)-S(W) relationships were employed.
authors.affiliation: Infrastructure and Environment, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH9 3JN, UK.
authors.forename: Gavin P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Grant
authors.forename: Jason I
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Gerhard
authors.forename: Bernard H
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Kueper
mesh_terms: D003198:Computer Simulation; D005025:Ethylene Dichlorides; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D010539:Permeability; D016062:Porosity; D012822:Silicon Dioxide; D014872:Water Movements; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
chemical_list: D005025:Ethylene Dichlorides; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; C024565:ethylene dichloride; D012822:Silicon Dioxide