Experimental investigation of solute transport in variably saturated porous media using x-ray computed tomography

Abstract

Solute transport through variably saturated porous media is ubiquitous in multiple subsurface flows, piquing the geoscience community's interest. This study adopts a novel experimental approach using microfocus x-ray computed tomography for real-time imaging of a three-dimensional NaI tracer plume in a partially saturated packing column. A stabilized two-phase flow field is achievable through continuous co-injection of two-phase fluids: NaCl solvent and pump oil. Thus, the critical role of the NaCl saturation Sw and Péclet number on dispersion can be fully studied by controlling the NaCl fractional flow rate and the total flow rate from the Buckley–Leverett theory. Furthermore, we study solute transport behavior based on statistical moments, the dispersion coefficient, the dilution index, and the mean scalar dissipation rate. Experimental results indicate that the solute transport is Fickian for high Sw ≥ 0.34. In contrast, anomalous transport behavior is found for Sw < 0.34, where the concentration distribution is initially left-tailed and leptokurtic before reaching a well-dispersed regime. The dispersion coefficient is 2–10 times larger for partially saturated cases compared with the fully saturated case and shows a non-monotonical dependency on Sw. Finally, the analysis of the dilution index indicates that the overall mixing strength increases when Sw decreases, whereas the mean scalar dissipation rate reveals that the time scaling of transverse mixing is the largest at an intermediate Sw. The results can be used to elucidate the solute transport behavior in a two-phase system.