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Migration of Petroleum Products Through Sandy Hydrogeologic Systems
Author(s) -
Abdul Abdul S.
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
groundwater monitoring and remediation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.677
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1745-6592
pISSN - 1069-3629
DOI - 10.1111/j.1745-6592.1988.tb01105.x
Subject(s) - petroleum , water table , petroleum engineering , aquifer , hydrogeology , geology , oil in place , porous medium , petroleum product , wetting , residual oil , water column , leak , environmental science , porosity , groundwater , geotechnical engineering , environmental engineering , engineering , chemical engineering , oceanography , paleontology
Laboratory column experiments were carried out to study the migration of petroleum products through a sandy porous medium. It was found that the oil pressure needed to displace water from the pores of the sand medium increased with depth below the top of the column. While oil under negative pressure displaced water through the variably unsaturated zone, a significant vertical column of oil was needed to displace water from the pores at the water table. These results indicate that oil penetration to and below the water table will occur only if the porous medium is highly conductive and the rate of oil leak is high. For small to moderate leak rates and hydraulic conductivities, oil would preferentially spread laterally through the zones above the water table. This process of spreading could serve as a natural barrier to severe aquifer contamination by petroleum products. A simplified procedure was developed to give an order‐of‐magnitude estimate of the preferred subsurface migration pathways of leaked petroleum products. This procedure utilizes the main drainage and wetting curves for oil and water and the interfacial pressure between these two fluids. This approach could be useful in guiding exploratory investigations, reducing both the risk for further spreading of the contaminants and the investigative cost.