Uncontrolled discharges of significant volumes of non-aqueous phase liquids such as petroleum fuels and chlorinated solvents have occurred at many sites. Understanding the fate and transport of NAPLs in the subsurface is necessary for assessing the extent and environmental impacts of the contamination, and its remediation. Temperature changes that cause freeze and thawing of soil moisture can result in the alteration of the soil pore structure, which can induce changes in the distribution and morphology of liquid phases present in soil. This study focuses on the effect of freeze-thaw cycles on the volume distribution, morphology and specific surface area of the NAPLs, gasoline and perchloroethylene (PCE) present at residual saturation in porous media. The volume distribution of NAPL blobs in packed sand columns were characterized using a medical X-ray CT scanner. The results show that gasoline blobs were mobilized to a significantly greater extent than PCE blobs. The morphology of the gasoline blobs such as volume, surface area and fractal dimension were also altered more than PCE blobs as a result of freeze and thaw. The extent of mobilization and morphological changes were a function of the freezing rate.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.98977 |
| Date | January 2006 |
| Creators | Kashef Haghighi, Sormeh. |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Engineering (Department of Civil Engineering and Applied Mechanics.) |
| Rights | © Sormeh Kashef Haghighi, 2006 |
| Relation | alephsysno: 002481957, proquestno: AAIMR24974, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
Page generated in 0.0991 seconds