• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2009.09a
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• pp.1372-1377
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• 2009

For the remediation of the subsurface contaminated by nonaqueous phase liquids(NAPLs), it is important to characterize the NAPL zone properly. Conventional characterization methods provide data at discrete points. To overcome the weak points of conventional characterization methods, the partitioning tracer method has been developed and studied. The average saturation of NAPL($S_n$), which is the representative and continuous saturation value within contaminated site, can be calculated by comparing the transport of the partitioning tracers to that of the conservative tracer in the partitioning tracer method. In this study, the application of the partitioning tracer method in heterogeneous media was investigated. To represent the heterogeneous condition of subsurface, a two-dimensional soil box was divided into four layers and each layer contained different sized soils. Soils in the soil box were contaminated by the mixture of kerosene and diesel, and partitioning tracer tests were conducted before and after the contamination using methanol as conservative tracer and 4-methyl-2-pentanol, 2-ethyl-1-butanol, and hexanol as partitioning tracers. The response curves of partitioning tracers from contaminated soils were separated and retarded in comparison with those from non-contaminated soils. The contamination of soils by NAPLs, therefore, can be detected by partitioning tracer method considering these retardations of tracers. From our experiment condition, the average saturation of NAPLs calculated by partitioning tracer method using the methanol as conservative tracer and hexanol as partitioning tracer showed the highest accuracy, though all results were underestimated. Further studies, therefore, were needed for improving the accuracy using the partitioning tracer test in heterogeneous media.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.3-9
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• 2011

Partitioning tracers have been used with non-partitioning, inert tracer such Br, for detection, estimation, and monitoring of remediation performance of the subsurface contaminated with nonaqueous phase liquids (NAPLs). Various partitioning tracers with different partition coefficients between aqueous and nonaqueous phase liquids can be used to determine the hydraulic conductivity, dispersivity, and residual mass of NAPLs in the subsurface soil matrices. Temporal moment-generating equations were used to analyze the field pilot-scale test results. The pilot-scale tests included conservative tracer tests and partitioning tracer tests. Analyses of nonaqueous phase liquid distribution and characteristics of groundwater bearing soil media were performed.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2002.04a
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• pp.159-162
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• 2002

Innovative and nondestructive characterization techniques have been developed to locate and quantify nonaqueous phase liquids (NAPLs) in the vadose and saturated zones in the subsurface environment. One such technique is the partitioning interwell tracer test (PITT). The PITT is a simultaneous displacement of partitioning and non-partitioning tracers through a subsurface formation. Partitioning tracers will partition into the NAPL during their transport through NAPL-contaminated formations. Mean travel times of partitioning and non-partitioning tracers are used to estimate the quantity of NAPL encountered by the displaced tracer pulse. Travel times are directly proportional to the partitioning coefficient and the volume of NAPL contacted in the subsurface environment. This paper discusses the conceptual background, design and implementation of PITTs. (This document has not been subjected to Agency review and therefore does not necessarily reflect the views of the Agency, and no official endorsement should be inferred.)

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.111-122
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• 2014

Partitioning interwell tracer test (PITT) is a method to quantify and qualify a site contaminated with NAPLs (Non-Aqueous Phase Liquids). Analytical description of PITT assumes that the injection-pumping well pair is on the line of the ambient groundwater flow direction, but the test-well pair could frequently be off the line in a real field site, which could be an erroneous factor in analyzing PITT data. The purpose of this work is to study the influence of the angle of the test-well pair on the ambient groundwater flow direction based on the result from PITT. From the experiments, it was found that the obliqueness of the test-well pair to the ambient groundwater flow direction could affect the tracer test resulting in a decreased NAPL estimation efficiency. In case of an oblique arrangement of the test-well pair to the ambient flow direction, it was found that the injection of a chase fluid could enhance the estimation efficiency. An increase of the pumping rate could enhance the recovery rate but it cannot be said that a high pumping rate can increase the test efficiency because a high pumping rate cannot give partitioning tracers enough time to partition into NAPLs. The results have a implication that because the arrangement of the test-well pair is a controlling factor in performing and interpreting PITT in the field in addition to the known factors such as heterogeneity and the source zone architecture, flow direction should be seriously considered in arranging test-well pair.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.24 no.9
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• pp.13-21
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• 2008

Partitioning tracer method is a useful tool to characterize large domains of the aquifers contaminated with light nonaqueous phase liquids (LNAPLs). Sorption of the partitioning tracers to the organic matter content of soil can potentially influence the efficacy of partitioning tracer method. LNAPL-water partitioning coefficients of tracers ($K_{nw}$), measured by static method, showed linear relationship. Sorption isotherm tests were conducted to evaluate the sorption capacity of the soils packed in the columns and the results were appropriately represented by Freundlich sorption isotherm. The sorption of tracers proportionally increased with the increase of the organic matter content of the soil. Laboratory experiments were conducted in four columns each packed with soils of different organic matter contents to determine the potential interference effects of sorption to soil organic matter content and correction factors for the errors in estimation of LNAPLs by partitioning tracer method. Though there were no contaminants added, breakthrough curves from columns packed with mixture of Jumunjin standard sand and organic matter showed separation of tracers. Columns were then contaminated to residual saturation with kerosene and breakthrough curves were obtained. The results show that sorption of tracers to soil organic matter leads to an increase in the retardation factor (R) and hence, to an overestimation of the saturation of LNAPLs. A relation between the percentage of organic matter content and the corresponding percentage error in the estimation of NAPLs has been developed.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.47-54
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• 2007

The partitioning tracer method has been studied as an alternative method for detecting and characterizing the distribution of nonaqueous phase liquids (NAPLs) contaminants in subsurface. The reliability of the partitioning tracer method depends on accurate measurements of partition coefficients of the partitioning tracers between water and NAPLs. In this study, partition coefficients of several alcohol tracers between water and benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene, and BTEX mixtures are estimated using the modified approach of equivalent alkane carbon number (EACN). Agreements between the measured and estimated partition coefficients were generally observed in experiments. Based on these results, it is confirmed that the partition coefficients of tracers are readily obtained without experiments if the EACN values for the tracers and LNAPLs are known.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2004.09a
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• pp.29-32
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• 2004

Gaseous partitioning tracer test has been used for determining the volume and spatial distribution of residual non-aqueous phase liquid (NAPL) in the unsaturated soils. In this study, an experimental method for measuring the content of gas-exposed NAPL as well as that of total NAPL in a sand during air sparging was developed. Two different gaseous phase NAPL-partitioning tracers were used; n-pentane, with very low water solubility, was used as the tracer that partitions into NAPL that is only in contact with the mobile gas, and chloroform, with fairly good water solubility, was selected for detecting total NAPL content in the sand. Helium and difluromethanewere used as the non- reactive tracer and water-partitioning tracers, respectively. Using n-decane as a model NAPL (NAPL saturation of 0.018), 25.6% of total NAPL was detected by n-pentane at the water saturation of 0.68. Oniy 9.1% of total NAPL was detected by n-pentane at the water saturation of 0.84. This result implies that the quantity of gas-exposed NAPL increased about three times when the water saturation decreased from 0.84 to 0.68. At the water saturation of 0.68, more than 90% of total NAPL was detected by chloroform while 65.8% of total NAPL was detected by chloroform at the water saturation of 0.84. Considering that the removal rate of NAPL during air sparging for NAPL-contaminated aquifer is expected to be greatly dependent upon the spatial arrangement of NAPL phase with respect to the mobile gas, this new approach may provide useful information for investigating the mass transfer process during air-driven remedial processes fer NAPL-contaminated subsurface environment.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.27 no.spc
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• pp.99-112
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• 2022

From early 2000, many researchers in the groundwater and soil environment remediation project tried to calculate the pollution level and pollution remediation cost and reflect it in the design. In addition, by identifying the movement characteristics of oil pollutants in the underground environment, many researchers tried to derive design factors necessary for pollution purification. However, although the test should be conducted in an area contaminated with oil, the toxicity and risk are too great for testing by deliberately leaking pollutants that are harmful to the human body. And as oil-contaminated areas are promoted by military units such as returned US military bases, there is a limit to access by the general public. In addition, since the indoor simulation test and the field application test have been carried out separately from each other, it was difficult to compare and review various simulation tests Therefore, in this study, PITT (Partitioning Interwell Tracer Test) and analysis methods were specifically presented through actual tests so that field workers could easily use them with the help of the military base and the Korea Rural Community Corporation Soil Environment Restoration Team. However, in order to directly reflect the distribution tracer test results in the pollution remediation design, it is necessary to reduce the analysis errors by comparing the analysis results of the existing soil pollution survey, physical exploration, and numerical modeling. In addition, it is judged to be cautious in the analysis because errors can easily occur due to various factors such as the type of oil at the polluted site, the hydraulic conductivity of the aquifer, and the skill of the researcher.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.99-107
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• 2000

Through the results of off-gas analysis at 3 sampling points in Plasma Arc Melting vitrification pilot plant, it was evaluated the partitioning of spiked materials in off-gas and the decontamination characteristic of off-gas treatment system. Spiked materials are hazard_us heavy metals(Pb, Cd, Hg), radioactive surrogate(Co, Cs) and radioactive materials($^{60}Co,\;^{137}Cs$). Through the Trial burn tests, Decontamination factor of spiked materials in off-gas treatment system is calculated.