Contribution 2
Submitted by: Marina Pantazidou, National Technical University of Athens, Greece
Annotated photograph from a bench-scale experimental release of LNAPL in coarse-grained sand.
Sample Description
(1) Course Name/Type: Environmental Geotechnics/Elective course at the 5th year of an integrated masters civil engineering curriculum
(2) Course Emphasis: polluted land, contaminant transport, remediation
(3) Descriptive Title of Sample: Annotated photograph from a bench-scale experimental release of LNAPL in coarse-grained sand
(4) Brief Teaching Note: The photograph complements schematics of petroleum releases, e.g. USEPA (1999), that illustrate both (i) petroleum spreading in the unsaturated and saturated zones and (ii) the distribution of petroleum components in all phases (volatilized, dissolved, sorbed). It is recommended that the photograph is discussed first, before showing a schematic, so that the students have the opportunity to think whether the contaminant is found only where we see red (i.e. where the nonaqueous phase is present) or elsewhere is the sand as well, e.g. in the two red squares. Suggested questions for students: will the air be clean in the upper red square to the left?, will I be able to smell kerosene if I sniff this air?, will the water be clean in the lower red square?, will I be able to taste kerosene if I drink this water? The estimated degrees of saturation may be given, as in this slide, or the percentages may be replaced with question marks for the students to make their own guesses.
(5) References: US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), 1999, Monitored Natural Attenuation of Petroleum Hydrocarbons, EPA/600/F-98/021, https://clu-in.org/download/remed/pet-hyd.pdf (accessed 24-11-2022)
Pantazidou, M. and Sitar, N., 1993, Emplacement of Nonaqueous Liquids in the Vadose Zone, Water Resources Research, 29:3:705–722. (This paper describes experiments such as the one shown in the photograph but does not include any photographs. Additional photographs are available from the first author.)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.