Dissolved gas transport in the presence of a trapped gas phase: experimental evaluation of a two-dimensional kinetic model

Quantitative information on dissolved gas transport in ground water aquifers is needed for a variety of site characterization and remedial design applications. The objective of this study was to gain further understanding of dissolved gas transport in the presence of trapped gas in the pore space of an otherwise water saturated porous medium, using a combination of laboratory experiments and numerical modeling. Transport experiments were conducted in a large-scale (4 X 2 X 0.2 m) laboratory physical aquifer model containing a homogeneous sandpack. Tracer (Br-) and dissolved gas (O2 or H2) plumes were created using a two-well injection/extraction scheme and then were allowed to drift in a uniform flow field. Plume locations and shapes were monitored by measuring tracer and dissolved gas concentrations as a function of position within the sandpack and time. In all experiments, partitioning of the dissolved gases between the mobile ground water and stationary trapped gas phases resulted in substantial retardation and tailing of the dissolved O2 and H2 plumes relative to the Br- plumes. Most observed plume features could be reproduced in simulations performed with a numerical model that combined the advection-dispersion equation with diffusion controlled mass transfer of dissolved gas between the mobile aqueous and stationary trapped gas phases. Fitted values of the volumetric trapped gas content and mass transfer coefficient ranged from 0.04 to 0.08 and from 10(-6) to 10(-5) sec-1, respectively. Sensitivity analyses were used to examine how systematic variations in these parameters would be expected to affect dissolved gas transport under a range of potential field conditions. The experimental and modeling results indicate that diffusion controlled mass transfer should be considered when predicting dissolved gas transport in ground water aquifers in the presence of trapped gas.