On the movement of an LNAPL lens on the water table

Abstract

The penetration of light nonaqueous phase liquids (LNAPLs) in quantities that lead to an accumulation in the form of a lens above the water table is considered. First, the three-phase vertical gravity-capillary equilibrium of water, NAPL, and air above the water table is specified. The hypothesis of 'vertical equilibrium phase distribution' is used to derive averaged asymptotic equations describing NAPL flow as a thin lens floating above the water table. Some problems of unsteady NAPL lens movement and the development of a NAPL mound, spreading along an inclined or horizontal phreatic surface are discussed and the analytical solutions are obtained.

Spreading of a NAPL lens in a double-porosity medium

“…Spreading of a non-aqueous phase liquid (NAPL) contaminant lens in a homogeneous porous medium was presented in some earlier publications [2,5,6]. This paper deals with the spreading of NAPL denser than water (DNAPL) in a double-porosity aquifer.…”