Comment on 'Mobilization and entry of DNAPL pools into finer sand media by cosolvents: two-dimensional chamber studies' by Michael E. Van Valkenburg and Michael D. Annable

摘要

We read Van Valkenburg and Amiable (2002) with keen interest. The potential remobilization of DNAPL pools during cosolvent flooding is a timely topic within groundwater contamination source zone remediation research. Van Valkenburg and Annable (2002) provide a valuable qualitative analysis of this topic through a series of 2-D chamber studies. Their observations of the collapse and redistribution of the original DNAPL pool, followed by DNAPL migration on top of and/or through a capillary barrier illustrate well the complexity of the behaviour and contribute significantly to a better understanding of dynamic flow in these multi-phase, multi-component systems. We agree that it is a worthy objective to confirm experimentally whether the currently used mathematical relationships apply to these complex conditions. Unfortunately, errors exist in the presented equations and tabulated data that directly affect the assessment of the applicability of the approach. Based upon our calculations using their data, we also address the applicable boundary condition at the top of the DNAPL pool.