Modelling gas-phase recovery of volatile organic compounds during in situ thermal treatment

Abstract

In situ thermal treatment (ISTT) technologies can be used to remove mass from non-aqueous phase liquid (NAPL) source zones. Ensuring the vaporization of NAPL and the capture of vapors are crucial, and numerical models are useful for understanding the processes that affect performance to help improve design and operation. In this paper, a two-dimensional model that combines a continuum approach based on finite difference for heat transfer with a macroscopic invasion percolation (macro-IP) approach for gas migration was developed to simulate thermal conductive heating (TCH) applications at the field-scale. This approach simulates heat transport and gas migration, but is different than a traditional continuum multiphase approach. Mass recovery for 60 randomly generated realizations under three degrees of heterogeneity of the permeability field were simulated. The mass recovery curves had an overall similar shape for the various permeability fields. However, a wider range of completion times was observed for domains with a higher permeability variance. Results also showed that NAPL pools that were highly saturated, deep, and away from the heaters needed more heating time to be depleted, and that total NAPL mass was not a good indicator of completion time. The completion time was positively correlated with the maximum value of the mixed spatial moment of NAPL saturation about the heaters in the lateral and vertical direction, and the NAPL pool with the highest moment could increase the heating time by as much as 35%. This effect was most notable in simulations with a high permeability variance and suggests the potential to reduce heating time by locating the largest NAPL pools and placing TCH heaters accordingly.