2007 Ground Water Summit


Monday, April 30, 2007
4:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.

Tuesday, May 1, 2007
9:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.

Tuesday, May 1, 2007
4:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.

Three-Dimensional Experiment Design to Characterize the Behavior of Dense Non-Aqueous Phase Liquid Transport and Dissolution in Fractured Media

Jared D. King1, John E. McCray1 and Charles E. Schaefer, Ph.D.2, (1)Colorado School of Mines, (2)Shaw Environmental and Infrastructure Inc.

A rising concern in the scientific community is the remediation of Dense Non-Aqueous Phase Liquid (DNAPL) in fractured porous media. In order to design remediation systems to effectively recover DNAPL from fractured rock, it is necessary to fully understand how DNAPL dissolves in fracture networks. Little research to date has explored the behavior of DNAPL dissolution in fractures. The goal of this experiment is to understand and quantify DNAPL dissolution in a known fracture network. The purpose of this poster is to present our experimental design to create a fracture network in a bench-scale tank experiment. A fracture system will be created using square blocks of sandstone with properties similar to contaminated field sites at the former DOE Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Plant. In this artificial 3-D fracture system, the placement of DNAPL and the hydraulic conditions can be highly controlled. Through direct injection of DNAPL into fractures, it is possible to accurately control both the initial position and volume of DNAPL in the experimental system. By controlling how and where DNAPL is emplaced into the fracture system, it will be possible to monitor the dissolution and transport of dissolved DNAPL contaminant throughout the entire fracture system. This will allow characterization directly within a fracture system, and give insight into how DNAPL dissolution occurs in real-world fracture systems. The experimental design and expected results of the 3-D experiments are discussed.

Jared D. King, Colorado School of Mines M.S. Candidate, Environmental Science and Engineering, Colorado School of Mines; B.S. Environmental Science, University of New Mexico, 2006.

Charles E. Schaefer, Ph.D., Shaw Environmental and Infrastructure Inc. Ph.D. Hydrogeology, Stanford 1998


The 2007 Ground Water Summit