2016 Volume 22 Issue 1 Pages 15-22
In this study, intermediate scale dye tracer experiments were conducted in a 1m length, 1m height and 0.03m thickness sandbox to quantify macrodispersion phenomena in stratified porous formations and to elucidate the effect of the layering on the degree of macrodispersion. Spatial and temporal moment approaches based on a snapshot of tracer distribution and NaCl concentration at a point, respectively, were applied to identify the macrodispersivities in longitudinal and lateral directions. The experimental results indicated that the longitudinal macrodispersivity depends on the travel distance of solute and the degree of heterogeneity in stratified formations with two or four layers, while the transverse macrodispersivity decreases with the increase of travel distance and depends on the magnitude of the initial solute distribution. A difference between longitudinal macrodispersivity estimates using spatio-temporal moments was also clarified.
