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In the United States, a gasoline fuel blend with alcohol volume fractions of 85% or more is considered (among other fuels) an alternative fuel. As the popularity and usage of high-alcohol content gasoline fuel blends increase, subsurface contamination from these fuels will be of great environmental concern. An important parameter governing the movement of these contaminants in unsaturated porous media is the liquid viscosity. In this study, five sets of experiments are conducted to determine viscosity variations of (a) blends of 15% gasoline with various alcohol mixtures, and (b) mixtures of high-alcohol content gasoline fuel blends with various volume fractions of water. The three alcohols considered in this study are ethanol, methanol, and isopropanol. The viscosity of each liquid mixture is observed using a modified falling-ball viscometer.

This paper presents the results from a well-defined, circular-shaped, multicomponent dense nonaqueous phase liquid (DNAPL) pool dissolution experiment conducted in a three-dimensional, bench scale model aquifer. The multicomponent pool is a mixture of tetrachloroethylene (PCE) and 1,1,2-trichloroethane (1,1,2-TCA); PCE was the major component and 1,1,2-TCA was the minor component. Downgradient plume concentrations were measured at five specific locations over time until the majority of the 1,1,2-TCA was depleted from the DNAPL pool source. The experimental results suggest distinct spatial-temporal plume patterns for minor DNAPL components versus major DNAPL components. The downgradient concentration varied over time for 1,1,2-TCA while a stable plume developed for PCE. A semi-analytical solution for contaminant transport resulting from dissolution of multicomponent nonaqueous phase liquid pools successfully simulated the plume structure and dynamics for both the major and minor DNAPL components.

Analytical expressions for the time invariant, average mass transfer coefficient and the concentration boundary layer thickness applicable to dissolving single-component nonaqueous phase liquid (NAPL) pools in two-dimensional, saturated, homogeneous and isotropic porous formations are derived. Good agreement between predicted and experimentally determined time invariant average mass transfer coefficients is observed.