LNAPL Thickness Estimation Based on Bail-Down Testing of Monitoring Wells
Mustafa M. Aral and Boshu Liao
Multimedia Environmental Simulations Laboratory
School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Georgia Institute of Technology
Atlanta, Georgia 30332
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ABSTRACT
In this project governing equations describing fluid recovery processes for bail-down tests in monitoring wells is developed in the view of volumetric equilibrium and assuming multiphase flow as Darcian flow. By numerically solving the model, it is shown that the measurements at the inflection point at which the water/LNAPL interface in well changes from rising to falling may depend on many parameters and the method that uses only those measurements at the inflection point to estimate the LNAPL thickness may not apply to many cases. Based on the analysis of the governing equations and numerical examples, a new approach, which is based on the LNAPL recovery rate in a monitoring well is proposed to estimate the LNAPL thickness in the formation. In addition to the measurement of the fluid recovery process over time in a monitoring well, the approach requires information on monitoring well parameters.