Retention of Diesel Fuel in Aquifer Material

Abstract

Retention of diesel fuel in soil material from the Borden aquifer was investigated for five particle‐size fractions over the size range 75–500 μm and for different packing structures. The results showed variation of retention with pore structure especially for small particle size. The variation was, however, nonuniform; retention increased with increasing porosity over some ranges of pore structure, whereas the reverse occurred over other ranges of pore structure. Also, depending upon pore structure, retention showed little variation or decreased with increasing particle size. The retention of diesel fuel was greater than the retention of water under similar packing conditions. The dependency of retention on fluid type and medium structural parameters agrees qualitatively with theoretical predictions for retention in porous media of uniform spherical particles, and can be explained based on the concept of capillary retention.