Radon-222 gas has unique properties allowing it to be used as an indicator for the
presence of organic phase liquids in the saturated zone. It naturally occurs in soils. It is
radioactive, making quantitative detection straight forward. A noble gas, it is chemically
inert and does not react with aquifer media. Finally, radon has an affinity to concentrate
in nonaqueous phase liquids. A proposed linear equilibrium partitioning model was
tested by batch equilibration with the pore fluid to establish the deficit in aqueous radon
concentrations that results from its partitioning into the residual saturation of the
organic phase (Soltrol-220). Five sets of experiments were run on columns with 0.0,
1.0, 2.5, 5.0, and 8.0 percent residual soltrol fractions. The model was found to
accurately represent the partitioning process. A one-dimensional physical model was
run to see if the data from the partitioning experiments could be successfully applied to
predict the aqueous radon concentrations in a more complex situation. The results
indicate that radon-222 has great potential to be used as a means of detecting and
quantifying the presence of residual organic phase liquids in the saturated zone. / Graduation date: 1995
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/35233 |
| Date | 11 July 1994 |
| Creators | Hopkins, Omar Snowden |
| Contributors | Semprini, Lewis |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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