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Equilibrium distribution of petroleum hydrocarbons in freezing ground

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 July 2004

David L. Barnes
Affiliation:
Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Water and Environment Research Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks, P.O. Box 755900, Fairbanks, Alaska 99775-5900, USA ([email protected])
Sarah M. Wolfe
Affiliation:
Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Water and Environment Research Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks, P.O. Box 755900, Fairbanks, Alaska 99775-5900, USA
Dennis M. Filler
Affiliation:
Dennis Filler Consulting, PO Box 82899, Fairbanks, Alaska 99708-2899, USA

Abstract

Past documented laboratory measurements have shown movement of petroleum hydrocarbons to the freezing front in contaminated freezing soils. The mechanisms that are, in part, responsible for the increased contaminant concentration at the freezing front are illustrated in this study with a mass-balance model. Results from this quantitative analysis show that this concentration increase is due to exclusion of petroleum hydrocarbon from the crystalline ice structure and from physical displacement of liquid petroleum hydrocarbon from the pore space as water freezes and expands into ice. Consequences of this process in relation to contaminant migration in freezing soils through time are discussed.

Type
Articles
Copyright
© 2004 Cambridge University Press

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