Centrifuge Modeling of Nonaqueous Phase Liquid Movement and Entrapment in Unsaturated Layered Soils

Abstract

Four geotechnical centrifuge tests with different soil layered systems were performed to investigate the movement and entrapment of water and of light nonaqueous phase liquids (LNAPLs) in unsaturated layered soil deposits. The tests were performed at 20 g and a vadose zone condition was created during the centrifuge tests by lowering the water table from the initially water saturated condition. During the water drainage stage, the water distribution within the models and the dynamic air–water capillary pressure saturation relationships of the three sands were obtained using tensiometers and resistivity probes. After achieving the unsaturated condition, a model LNAPL (Soltrol 220® or silicon oil) was injected near the soil surface and the movement and entrapment were monitored during the redistribution stage until the LNAPL reached the top of the water table. Complex LNAPL preferential flow and entrapment patterns were observed in the layered models with different textural interfaces due to the relative movement of all three phases [water, nonaqueous phase liquid (NAPL), and air]. The centrifuge tests data coupled with the numerical analyses show that NAPL properties, subsurface soil structures, initial water saturation, and NAPL infiltration rate affect the variation in entrapment conditions in heterogeneous unsaturated soil deposits.