Modeling of contaminant transport resulting from dissolution of nonaqueous phase liquid pools in saturated porous media

Abstract

A mathematical model for transient contaminant transport resulting from the dissolution of a single component nonaqueous phase liquid (NAPL) pool in two-dimensional, saturated, homogeneous porous media was developed. An analytical solution was derived for a semi-infinite medium under local equilibrium conditions accounting for solvent decay. The solution was obtained by taking Laplace transforms to the equations with respect to time and Fourier transforms with respect to the longitudinal spatial coordinate. The analytical solution is given in terms of a single integral which is easily determined by numerical integration techniques. The model is applicable to both denser and lighter than water NAPL pools. The model successfully simulated responses of a 1,1,2- trichloroethane (TCA) pool at the bottom of a two-dimensional porous medium under controlled laboratory conditions.