Multi-Component Migration in the Gas Phase of Soil: Comparison between Results of Experiments and Simulation by Dusty Gas Model

Abstract

Fick's law has been used to simulate gas systems within soil, although this law can be applied only to binary gas systems and the effect of the Knudsen diffusion is not considered. By contrast, the dusty gas model can be applied to multi-component gas systems with Knudsen diffusion. Blanc's law is a simplified version of the dusty gas model, but it can be used only for gas systems in which the tracer gas is dilute. Although the dusty gas model is superior to other methods for simulating gas systems within soil, it is not generally used because of its complexity. Numerical techniques such as the Eulerian-Lagrangian method for solving the advection-dispersion equation can be used to simulate the migration of chemical substance in the water or gas phases of soil within the range of every Péclet number. We derived the compound diffusion coefficient and compound velocity from the dusty gas model and formulated the advection-diffusion equation with these values by using the characteristic finite element scheme. Results of the model developed here were consistent with the results of column experiments conducted in this study, and the precision of the developed model was verified.