Abstract
To study transport phenomena of petroleum hydrocarbons in vadose zones, capillary rise experiments using acrylic and glass columns containing Toyoura standard sand for three different hydrocarbons-gasoline, kerosene, and diesel oil-together with water and ethanol were performed in dry and water-wet conditions. The experimental results show that transportability of oils decreases in conditions of residual saturation by water compared with dry conditions, and that gasoline has the highest transportability and diesel fuel the lowest while kerosene intermediate. Analytical solutions to Washburn and Green-Ampt's equations for dynamic capillary rise were derived to show their equality, and these solutions showed excellent agreement with the experimental results. Parameters such as contact angle and equivalent diameter of capillary tubes were estimated using Powell's method with experimental data
