Experimental study of DNAPL displacement by a new densified polymer solution and upscaling problems of aqueous polymer flow in porous media

Abstract

Nowadays the remediation of DNAPL contaminated zones near groundwater has gained great prominence in environmental fields due to the high importance of water resources. In this work, we suggest injecting a densified polymer suspension by adding barite particles to displace DNAPL. To evaluate the efficiency of the densification of polymer suspensions on the displacement of DNAPL, various densities of barite-polymer suspension; lower, equal, and higher than the density of DNAPL were prepared and their rheological behavior was analyzed. Then flow experiments were performed using a decimetric-scale 2D tank. The displacement procedure was monitored with an imaging technique and the production and injection process data were recorded by mass balance interpretation. It was shown that the densification of the polymer suspension could improve the displacement efficiency of DNAPL up to four times. The clogging behavior of barite-polymer suspension was assessed in a 1D column. Generalized Darcy’s law and the continuity equation were used to numerically simulate the experimental two-phase flow. To take into account the clogging behavior of the suspension, the transport equation of diluted species was implemented into the model. The simulation results show that the model can properly predicts the experimental consequences