Parametric assessment of soil hydraulic functions at presence of Kerosene contaminant

Subject Areas : Farm water management with the aim of improving irrigation management indicators

Milad Nouri ¹ , Mehdi Homaee ² , Mohammed Bybordi ³

1 - M.Sc. Student, Department of Soil Science, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran 14115-336, Iran
2 - Professor, Department of Soil Science, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran 14115-336, Iran
3 - Professor, Department of Soil Science, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran 14115-336,Iran

Received: 2012-05-10 Accepted : 2012-09-10 Published : 2012-12-10

Keywords: kerosene, scaling factor, soil hydraulic models, soil retention curve,

Abstract :

Quantitative assessment of soils hydraulic properties that are contaminated with oils is crucial for optimal soil and water resources conservation. The objective of this study was to investigate Kerosene effect on soil hydraulic properties. For this purpose, the soil retention curves and saturated hydraulic conductivity of Kerosene and water were determined by hanging column and constant head method, respectively. The soil retention curve parameters were obtained based on van Genuchten, Brooks-Corey and Campbell’s models. Unsaturated soil hydraulic conductivity for both fluids were predicted based on Mualem- Brooks-Corey, Burdine- Brooks-Corey, Mualem-van Genuchten and Campbell’s functions. The results indicated that Kerosene was retained less than water owing to its negligible surface tension, yielding less needed tension to drain kerosrene out from soils. Moreover, the magnitudes of the pore-size distribution parameters remained mostly unchanged and the bubbling pressure parameters were increased in Kerosene-air system compares to water-air system. The Kerosene-water matric potential ratio at the same soil fluid quantity was 0.48. The Leverett’s and suggested scale factors were determined 0.39 and 0.49, respectively, which indicates the soil fluid retention curves were appropriately scaled based on the recommended scale factor. Due to high kinematic viscosity of Kerosene and low soil retention for Kerosene, the saturated and unsaturated soil hydraulic conductivity of Kerosene was less than that of water.