Infiltration, Redistribution, and Dissolution of Ethanol-Blended Gasoline: Intermediate-Scale Flow Cell Experimentation to Develop a Data Base for Numerical Model Testing and Verification.
EMSL Project ID
30499
Abstract
The practice of blending ethanol into gasoline, either as an additive or a fuel replacement, is rapidly increasing in the U.S. Given the potential large impact of potential blended gasoline spills on groundwater contamination, it is remarkable that, to date, no detailed quantitative intermediate-scale experiments have been conducted. Such experiments are needed to improve our understanding of subsurface behavior of these fluids and their impact on groundwater quality. The main objective of the proposed experimental effort is to develop an initial data set for subsurface blended-gasoline flow and transport that can be used to test and verify numerical multifluid flow models. The experimental design will be such that the effects of co-solvency on dissolution and the effects of surface/interfacial tension alterations on fluid redistribution will be emphasized. The data set will include fluid saturations, pressures, and dissolved component concentrations. In addition, fluid properties (density, viscosity, surface tension, interfacial tension) and hydraulic properties (saturated hydraulic conductivity, saturation-pressure relations) will be determined independently. The STOMP simulator will be used to simulate the experiments. The experimental data will be compared against simulation results considering all pertinent phenomena and results using simplified approaches.
Project Details
Project type
Large-Scale EMSL Research
Start Date
2008-10-01
End Date
2009-09-30
Status
Closed
Released Data Link
Team
Principal Investigator