Fresh underground light non-aqueous liquid (LNAPL) pollution source zone monitoring in an outdoor experiment using cross-hole electrical resistivity tomography

Real-time monitoring of source zone of light non-aqueous liquids (LNAPLs) is important for preventing accidental pollution and taking effective underground pollution remediation measures. As a high-precision monitoring technology, cross-hole electrical resistivity tomography (CHERT) has been widely used to obtain static information regarding underground stratigraphic structures and dynamic information regarding fluid motion. The time-lapse data processing method can be used to obtain pollution zone dynamic change information. Since the leakage rate directly affects the diffusion range of pollution, this study simulated the initial evolution process of LNAPL pollution source regions under two different leakage rates. The time-lapse monitoring of the above process was performed using CHERT. The test results show that CHERT can be used to observe the migration of LNAPLs and the initial evolution of the contaminated area. Differences in leakage rate will result in variation in soil wettability and fluid distribution, which will cause changes in soil resistivity in the corresponding region. The low-saturation LNAPL-contaminated area may exhibit low-resistivity characteristics and is easily overlooked in field investigations. In addition, the degree of contamination in the saturated zone can be quantitatively evaluated by CHERT; however, the pollution range and oil saturation value determined by CHERT are underestimated. The results showed the electrical variation characteristics of the initial evolution process of the fresh pollution source area and provide data that will enable early warnings of LNAPL leakage. This shows that CHERT is a promising tool for monitoring LNAPL pollution source leakage even if further research is needed to fully understand the effect of hydrological processes on electronic signals.