• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.47-54
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• 2007

The partitioning tracer method has been studied as an alternative method for detecting and characterizing the distribution of nonaqueous phase liquids (NAPLs) contaminants in subsurface. The reliability of the partitioning tracer method depends on accurate measurements of partition coefficients of the partitioning tracers between water and NAPLs. In this study, partition coefficients of several alcohol tracers between water and benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene, and BTEX mixtures are estimated using the modified approach of equivalent alkane carbon number (EACN). Agreements between the measured and estimated partition coefficients were generally observed in experiments. Based on these results, it is confirmed that the partition coefficients of tracers are readily obtained without experiments if the EACN values for the tracers and LNAPLs are known.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2009.09a
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• pp.1372-1377
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• 2009

For the remediation of the subsurface contaminated by nonaqueous phase liquids(NAPLs), it is important to characterize the NAPL zone properly. Conventional characterization methods provide data at discrete points. To overcome the weak points of conventional characterization methods, the partitioning tracer method has been developed and studied. The average saturation of NAPL($S_n$), which is the representative and continuous saturation value within contaminated site, can be calculated by comparing the transport of the partitioning tracers to that of the conservative tracer in the partitioning tracer method. In this study, the application of the partitioning tracer method in heterogeneous media was investigated. To represent the heterogeneous condition of subsurface, a two-dimensional soil box was divided into four layers and each layer contained different sized soils. Soils in the soil box were contaminated by the mixture of kerosene and diesel, and partitioning tracer tests were conducted before and after the contamination using methanol as conservative tracer and 4-methyl-2-pentanol, 2-ethyl-1-butanol, and hexanol as partitioning tracers. The response curves of partitioning tracers from contaminated soils were separated and retarded in comparison with those from non-contaminated soils. The contamination of soils by NAPLs, therefore, can be detected by partitioning tracer method considering these retardations of tracers. From our experiment condition, the average saturation of NAPLs calculated by partitioning tracer method using the methanol as conservative tracer and hexanol as partitioning tracer showed the highest accuracy, though all results were underestimated. Further studies, therefore, were needed for improving the accuracy using the partitioning tracer test in heterogeneous media.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.132-148
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• 2019

Recently, safety and environmental concerns have become major social issues. Especially, a special underground-safety law has been made and enacted to prevent ground subsidence around construction sites. For environmental problems, several researches have started or will start on characterization of contaminated sites, in-situ environmental remediation in subsurface, and monitoring of remediation results. As a part of the researches, geophysical surveys, which have been mainly applied to explore mineral resources, geological features or ground, are used to characterize not only contaminated areas but also fluid flow paths in subsurface environments. As a basic study for the application of geophysical surveys to detect contamination in subsurface, this paper analyzes previous researches to understand changes in geophysical properties of contaminated zones by various contaminants such as leachate, heavy metals, and non-adequate phase liquid (NAPL). Furthermore, this paper briefly introduces how geophysical surveys like direct-current electrical resistivity, induced polarization and ground penetration radar surveys can be applied to detect each contamination, before analyzing case studies of the applications in contaminated areas by NAPL, leachate, heavy metal or nitrogen oxides.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.3-9
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• 2011

Partitioning tracers have been used with non-partitioning, inert tracer such Br, for detection, estimation, and monitoring of remediation performance of the subsurface contaminated with nonaqueous phase liquids (NAPLs). Various partitioning tracers with different partition coefficients between aqueous and nonaqueous phase liquids can be used to determine the hydraulic conductivity, dispersivity, and residual mass of NAPLs in the subsurface soil matrices. Temporal moment-generating equations were used to analyze the field pilot-scale test results. The pilot-scale tests included conservative tracer tests and partitioning tracer tests. Analyses of nonaqueous phase liquid distribution and characteristics of groundwater bearing soil media were performed.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.25 no.2_spc
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• pp.86-100
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• 2020

Analyzing and monitoring environmental contaminants based on geophysical exploration techniques have become important and it is now widely applied to delineate spatial distribution geophysical characteristics in wide area. Among the techniques, induced polarization (IP) method, which measures polarization effects on electrical potential distribution, has drawn much attention as an effective tool for environmental monitoring since IP is sensitive to changes in biochemical reactions. However, various reactions stemming from the presence of multiple contaminants have greatly enhanced heterogeneity of polluted sites to result in highly variable electrical characteristics of the site. Those contaminants influence chemical and physical state of soil and groundwater to alter electrical double layer, which in turn influences polarization of the media. Since biochemical reactions between microbes and contaminants result in various IP effects, IP laboratory experiments were conducted to investigate IP responses of the contaminated soil samples under various conditions. Field IP surveys can delineate the spatial distribution of contamination, while providing additional information about electrical properties of a target medium, together with DC resistivity. Reviewing IP effects of contaminants as well as IP surveys can serve as a good starting point for the application of IP survey in site assessment for environmental remediation.

• Journal of Korea Soil Environment Society
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.9-24
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• 1997

Surfactant-aided in situ soil flushing has been proposed as an alternative for the expensive and time consuming 'pump and treat' technology in remediation of contaminated soil and groundwater Injected surfactants can effectively solubilize contaminants sorbed to the soil matrix or nonaqueous phase liquids(NAPLs) in residual saturation. The contaminants solubilized in groundwater are recovered and treated further. The theoretical background of the technology and the results of the field operations, mostly in the US. were summarized. In addition, the factors crucial to the successful application of the technology were discussed. Cost analyses and technical limitations in current applications were also discussed. In conclusion, it is likely that in situ surfactant flushing become a viable option for soil remediation in limited cases. Currently, further advances with respect to operation cost and to treatment efficiency are required for more extensive application of the technology. However, the current trends in soil remediation, specially the growing emphasis on risk based corrective action and natural attenuation, will increase the competitiveness of the technology. For example, removal of easily washable contaminants by short term soil flushing followed by long term monitoring and natural attenuation can greatly reduce the operation cost and time.