Hydrogeology Journal (2019) 27:581–593

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10040-018-1904-1

PAPER

Assessing the influence of infiltration on the migration of light

non-aqueous phase liquid in double-porosity soil media using a light
transmission visualization method
Motasem Y. D. Alazaiza 1 & Su Kong Ngien 2,3 & Nadim Copty 4 & Mustafa M. Bob 5 & Samira A. Kamaruddin 6

Received: 18 April 2018 / Accepted: 18 November 2018 / Published online: 28 November 2018
# Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2018

Abstract
The influence of infiltration on the migration of a light non-aqueous phase liquid (LNAPL) in double-porosity soil using the light
transmission visualization (LTV) technique is investigated. Two LNAPL volumes (low and high volumes) were exposed to two
rainfall intensities (light and heavy infiltration). For comparison purposes, the experiments were also repeated by compacting the
flow chamber with silica sand only to represent the single-porosity medium and to investigate the influence of double-porosity on
LNAPL migration. High-resolution LTV images of the flow chamber during LNAPL injection and subsequent water infiltration
events were collected. Results show that the LNAPL migration depth during injection and its migration velocity were both
correlated to the LNAPL volume. Subsequent water infiltration events caused the LNAPL that was entrapped in the porous media
to be pushed further downward in all the experiments. The LNAPL migration velocity was 1.1 and 1.6 cm/h for the low and high
LNAPL spillage volumes for double-porosity experiments, respectively, a reduction rate of 64.7 and 70% compared to the
LNAPL migration velocity during LNAPL injection, respectively. However, for single-porosity experiments, the LNAPL mi-
gration velocity was 0.7 and 1.2 cm/h for the low and high LNAPL volumes, respectively. Furthermore, it was observed that the
capillary fringe level was depressed in the saturated zone due to the influence of both infiltration and LNAPL volume. This study
demonstrates that the LTV technique is an accurate and cost-effective laboratory tool for the visualization of the time-dependent
influence of infiltration on LNAPL migration in porous media.

Keywords Laboratory experiments/measurements . Light transmission visualization . Double-porosity . Non-aqueous phase

liquid . Porous media

Introduction

The contamination of soil and groundwater by organic com-

* Motasem Y. D. Alazaiza
pounds in the form of non-aqueous phase liquids (NAPLs) is a
my.azaiza@gmail.com
widespread and challenging problem (Luciano et al. 2010).
1
Many of these contaminants are immiscible with water as a
School of Civil Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia, result of their low aqueous solubility (Yang et al. 2013). As a
14300 Nibong Tebal, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
2
result, the contamination of the subsurface by NAPLs can
Faculty of Civil Engineering and Earth Resources, Universiti persist for many years leading to the contamination of large
Malaysia Pahang, Lebuhraya Tun Razak, 26300 Gambang, Pahang,
Malaysia portions of the groundwater (Alazaiza et al. 2018). The migra-
3 tion of NAPL in the subsurface especially in the unsaturated
Centre for Earth Resources Research and Management, Universiti
Malaysia Pahang, Gambang, Malaysia zone is very difficult to predict due to the complex nature of
4 the multiphase system. NAPLs can be categorized into light
Institute of Environmental Sciences, Bogazici University, Bebek,
Istanbul, Turkey non-aqueous phase liquids (LNAPLs) and dense non-aqueous
5 phase liquids (DNAPLs) depending on their density relative to
Department of Civil Engineering, Taibah University, Kingdom of
Saudi ArabiaMadinah City that of water. Chlorinated solvents such as trichloroethylene
6 and tetrachloroethylene are the most common examples of
UTM Razak School of Engineering and Advanced Technology,
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia DNAPL, whereas petroleum compounds such as benzene,
582
toluene and xylene (BTEX) are examples of LNAPL (Sweijen
et al. 2014; Karadag et al. 2016).
When a NAPL is released into the subsurface, it first mi-
grates within the vadose zone under the influence of the grav-
itational hydrodynamic and capillary forces which depend on
the distribution of the three-phases: air, water, and NAPL
within the porous medium. This is true for the case of both
LNAPL and DNAPL in the vadose zone. However, in the case
of DNAPL, due to its density which is higher than that of
water, it will enter the saturated zone and continue its down-
ward migration in the saturated zone until some hydraulic or
capillary barrier is encountered. Understanding the migration
of NAPLs in subsurface systems is essential for evaluating
contamination source zones as well as to design remediation
schemes (Zheng et al. 2015).
NAPL migration is influenced by three major factors
(Huling and Weaver 1991): (1) fluid properties such as viscos-
ity, density, wettability, residual saturation in porous media,
interfacial tension, solubility and volatility; (2) characteristics
of the porous media, which mainly consist of hydrological
parameters such as soil structure, pore size, capillary pressure,
and hydraulic conductivity; and (3) subsurface conditions
such as groundwater flow velocity and soil water content. In
its natural state, many types of soil have two distinct scales of
porosity, which give rise to the term double-porosity soil
structure (Carminati et al. 2008). Double-porosity is a natural
phenomenon that occurs when two separate pore systems
emerge simultaneously in the structure of a soil (El-Zein
et al. 2006). Rock aquifers (Pao and Lewis 2002), compacted
soils (Romero et al. 1999), and agricultural top soil (El-Zein
et al. 2006) are examples of geomaterials that potentially har-
bor double-porosity characteristics.
Numerous researchers have conducted experimental stud-
ies to investigate the behavior of immiscible fluids in soils
(Bob et al. 2008; Darnault et al. 1998; Kechavarzi et al.
2005; Ngien et al. 2012; Pan et al. 2016; Sa’ari et al. 2015;
Zheng et al. 2015; Van Geel and Sykes 1997; Sharma and
Mohamed 2003). Several researchers have used a few tech-
niques to measure fluid saturation including gamma ray (Tuck
et al. 1998), X-ray attenuation (Tidwell and Glass 1994), and
electrical conductivity probes (Kamon et al. 2003). However,
the former techniques do not allow the monitoring of fluid
behavior under dynamic conditions. In addition, these tech-
niques do not allow for the simultaneous observation of the
entire domain of the samples (Flores et al. 2011). In light of
these limitations, the light transmission visualization (LTV)
technique has increasingly attracted the attention of several
researchers (Bob et al. 2008; Niemet and Selker 2001;
Zheng et al. 2015). A study by Alazaiza et al. (2015) presented
the usage of three types of photographic methods in NAPL
experiments and showed that LTV is a viable method for
NAPL saturation measurements. It was found that there is a
linear relationship between fluid saturation and light intensity
Hydrogeol J (2019) 27:581–593
due to the closer matching between the refraction index of the
porous media and water relative to the porous media and air
(Glass et al. 1989). In LTV systems, the change in fluid con-
tent and fluid saturation can readily be measured instanta-
neously due to the utilization of digital cameras, which pro-
vide a very high density array of spatial measurements over a
very large dynamic range (Niemet and Selker 2001).
When water infiltrates into the subsurface, the water phase
portion will increase, which, in turn affects the migration of
entrapped NAPL. Kamaruddin (2012) carried out an experi-
mental study to investigate the influence of rainfall on the
migration of LNAPL in silica sand. The author reported that
the LNAPL was easily moved downward by the rainfall re-
charge. In addition, the results also showed that the rainfall
recharge could significantly reduce the residual LNAPL satu-
ration at the upper part of the capillary interface.
Subsequently, in another study, Flores et al. (2013) investigat-
ed LNAPL behavior due to precipitation using a simplified
image analysis method (SIAM). The study focused on the
visualization of LNAPL migration under the influence of rain-
fall intensity in one-dimensional (1D) columns filled with
sand. The authors noted that the precipitation intensity forced
the LNAPL to migrate downward to different depths depend-
ing on the precipitation intensities despite the fact that the
LNAPL has a density lower than that of water.
The main goal of this study is to investigate the impact of
infiltration on the transient LNAPL migration in double-
porosity soil media using the LTV technique which has not
been studied before. The paper examines the impact of NAPL
saturation by considering two LNAPL injection conditions:
low LNAPL volume and high LNAPL volume.
Furthermore, the LNAPL was subjected to two different infil-
tration intensities: light rainfall intensity and heavy rainfall
intensity. For comparison purposes, the experiments were also
repeated by compacting the flow chamber with silica sand
only to represent single-porosity medium and to investigate
the influence of double-porosity on LNAPL migration. In to-
tal, eight experiments with different LNAPL volumes and
infiltration intensity combinations were conducted. The next
section presents the preparation of the materials, physical
model, experimental setup, and experimental procedures.
The distribution of LNAPL through the soil was acquired
using a digital camera as will be discussed later. Finally, the
results of this LTV application to LNAPL migration behavior
are presented and discussed.
Materials and methods
Material characteristics
The porous materials used in this study are local silica sand
and S300 kaolin, which were used to create the double-
Hydrogeol J (2019) 27:581–593
porosity soil structure. Prior to starting the experiments, a
detailed characterization including physical, chemical, and
mineralogical tests, was carried out for both materials. The
physical, chemical, and mineralogical properties can be found
in (Alazaiza et al. 2017). Toluene was used to represent the
LNAPL. Toluene density is 0.867 kg/m3 and its solubility in
water is 520 mg/L at 25 °C. Additional Toluene properties can
be found in (Ruffino and Zanetti 2009).
Double-porosity physical model
The double-porosity structure was created following the meth-
od of Lewandowska et al. (2005) using sintered clay spheres
and fine sand. The sintered clay spheres were made of com-
mercially available S300 kaolin (Lotte Chemical Titan,
Malaysia), while the sand was commercial local silica sand
(Lotte Chemical Titan, Malaysia). To make the sintered clay
spheres, kaolin powder was mixed with a sufficient amount of
water, so that the spheres could be formed by hand. The clay
spheres were then put inside a furnace and the temperature
was increased gradually until it reached 1,000 °C. This pro-
cess was undertaken to harden the kaolin spheres so that fur-
ther disintegration can be avoided during saturation of the
double-porosity soil sample in the study. The clay sphere di-
ameter was 6 mm and the average pore size in clay sphere was
Fig. 1 SEM images of the
sintered clay material a × 500 b ×
1,000 c × 2,500 d × 5,000
583
around 5 μm. The retained sand on sieve 212 μm was used as
the filler. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was carried
out to investigate the micro-structure of the kaolin spheres
with different magnifications as shown in Fig. 1. The SEM
showed that the kaolin spheres were almost homogeneous
without skin effect due to reduced porosity. The sand was
washed with distilled water to remove any fine residuals pres-
ent and then oven dried for 48 h at 45 °C. In order to build the
double-porosity structure, the clay spheres were put layer by
layer in such a manner that they were touching each other.
Between each clay sphere layer, a layer of sand was carefully
poured and then compaction was done by tapping a plastic
hammer on the outer frame of the acrylic model. The volu-
metric fraction of 50% macro-pores (silica sand) and 50%
micro-pores (clay spheres) were used. This volumetric frac-
tion resulted in different weight of sand and clay fractions,
which in turn differ the sand layer thickness. The thickness
of each sand layer was 1.15 cm. The total porosity of the
double-porosity structure was 0.42. Figure 2 shows the distri-
bution of clay and sand to create the double-porosity structure.
Experimental setup
All experiments were conducted inside a two-dimensional
(2D) flow chamber made of 10-mm acrylic material. The
584 Hydrogeol J (2019) 27:581–593

Fig. 2 a Schematic diagram of

the double-porosity porous
medium. b Photograph of the
compacted double-porosity soil
inside the flow chamber after
water saturation

dimensions of the flow chamber were 45 cm height × 30 cm
width × 1 cm depth. The flow chamber was placed inside a
frame fixed to a stainless-steel light box, in front of the light
source. At the bottom of the flow chamber, two steel ports
were installed and connected to a water tank using plastic
tubing. A valve was placed between the flow chamber and
water tank to control the flow of water into the flow chamber.
The LTV system used in the present study was based on
that described in Alazaiza et al. (2017). The system comprises
of a stainless-steel box with a light source consisting of five
18-W fluorescent tubes at the back of the box as shown in
Fig. 3. In front of the light source, a holographic light-shaping
diffuser (LSD; Luminit, USA) was placed to achieve light
intensity homogenization. Images were acquired using a
Nikon D 7100 digital camera, which was kept at a fixed dis-
tance of 1.5 m from the light box for all experiments. The
camera was controlled using the Nikon Camera Control Pro
Software to avoid displacement and vibrations. All experi-
ments were conducted inside a dark room and the temperature
of the room was maintained at 23 ± 1 °C.
Rainfall simulation
Rainwater is required to observe the influence of infiltration
on LNAPL migration. For a typical infiltration simulation, the
characteristics that should be considered are drop size,

Fig. 3 Schematic diagram of the

light box
Hydrogeol J (2019) 27:581–593
intensity, and kinetic energy (Dunkerley 2008). In this study, a
dripping method was used to simulate a rainfall event due to
its ease of installation and economic advantage. Simulation of
infiltration via the dripping method purposely allows the water
infiltration to occur as a recharge; therefore, the influence of
kinetic energy on the model surface can be neglected. Water
was released from an adjacent tank using a peristaltic pump
into a horizontal pipe above the top of the flow chamber. The
pump controls the rate of infiltration in order to produce a
constant flow rate. A control head device was used to control
the water head in the water tank. All fittings and pipe connec-
tions together with a manual valve were glued together to
achieve a high-water pressure. For all the experiments, small
holes were drilled along the horizontal pipe at 4-cm intervals
to produce artificial rain. The system was pre-tested by releas-
ing water drips into a pan to estimate the water flow rate. As
mentioned earlier, two rainfall intensities were simulated in
this study—the light rainfall intensity was selected as
10 mm/h, while the heavy rainfall intensity was 60 mm/h.
The higher value corresponds to rainfall intensities encoun-
tered during heavy storms—for example, in tropical countries
such as Malaysia, the light rainfall intensity range is from 1 to
10 mm/h. while the heavy rainfall intensity range is from 30 to
60 mm/h (Malaysia Drainage and Irrigation Department
Standard 2017). The layout of the experimental setup is shown
in Fig. 4.
Fig. 4 Schematic diagram showing the flow chamber and rainfall
generation system
585
Experimental procedures
The flow chamber was first dry packed with the porous media.
After packing, the model was fully saturated with distilled
water from the bottom ports. Thereafter, each experiment
was divided into three stages as laid out in the next
subsections.
Water drainage
After fully saturating the flow chamber with water, the drain-
age valve connecting to the bottom ports was opened to allow
for water drainage. The top of the flow chamber was opened to
prevent a vacuum state from occurring. This stage was pre-
tested to determine the standard duration before the LNAPL
experiments were conducted.
LNAPL injection
In this stage, known volumes of toluene were injected from
the top of the flow chamber through the porous media using a
syringe. At the middle top of the acrylic model, a small open-
ing was created in order to insert the needle of the syringe to
inject the toluene into the porous media. The low volume of
toluene was 50 ml (1.67 ml/cm2), whereas the high volume
was 100 ml (3.33 ml/cm2). After the LNAPL release, the
camera automatically starts to capture images for the charac-
terization of the transient LNAPL distribution.
Rainfall event
Using the upper pump connected to the water tank, the flow
rate was controlled to simulate the light and heavy rainfall
events. The low and heavy rainfall events were 10 and
60 mm/h, respectively each applied for a period of 2 h. After
application of the rainfall event, the model was left to stabilize
for 12 h and the observation of the LNAPL behavior was
continued until it reached a stable state. All images were proc-
essed using Image Pro Premier software (Media Cybernetics,
USA) to extract the light intensity values. The light intensity
was then visualized using Surfer 8.1 software.
Pre-tests for identifying water and LNAPL migration times
Before starting the experiments, a trial experiment was con-
ducted to determine the time needed for water drainage and
LNAPL infiltration in the double-porosity soil. Specifically,
prior to the LNAPL migration stage, the system was water
drained until the sample reached stable water content in the
vadose zone and capillary zone. The stable water content level
was determined based on the changes in the light intensity for
the captured images during the pre-test. More than 80 images
were captured and analyzed in order to measure the variations
586 Hydrogeol J (2019) 27:581–593

in light intensity in the vadose zone and capillary zone. The time needed for the LNAPL distribution to stabilize in the
duration taken for this stage was later used as a standard du- pre-test was later used for all experiments as a standard dura-
ration for the drainage stage for all subsequent experiments. tion for the LNAPL injection stage. Figure 5 shows the light
The sample preparation and the experimental procedure are intensity variations during the LNAPL infiltration over an 18-
also similar to all the experiments as described in the preced- h period. It was observed that the light intensity of the LNAPL
ing. The sole difference in the trial experiment is the time varied in the vadose zone as well as in the capillary zone with
duration was much longer in time compared to the real exper- an increase in time due to the LNAPL movement from the
iments. The trial test was carried out over 1 day with the first point of release at the upper end of the flow chamber to the
6 h dedicated to water drainage, while the rest of the time was capillary zone. Based on these results, the required time for
allotted for LNAPL migration. The test was conducted using LNAPL to reach a stable state was estimated to be approxi-
the high LNAPL volume, which is expected to require a lon- mately 6 h.
ger time to stabilize. The interpretation of the pre-test was
based on the changes in the average light intensity for the
captured images during the water drainage phase as well as
Results and discussion
LNAPL infiltration phase. The water was observed to drain
very fast from the flow chamber because of the high perme-
LNAPL migration before infiltration
ability of the double-porosity due to the presence of macro-
pores in the double-porosity soil (Alazaiza et al. 2017). The
In all the experiments, when the bottom valve was opened, the
drainage process reached a stable level in less than 3 h (i.e. 2 h
water drained from the fully saturated soil samples due to
47 min) after which no changes in light intensity were ob-
gravitational force. The occurrence of two types of porosity
served. Figure 5 shows the change in light intensity as a func-
(i.e. macro-pores and micro-pores) caused the water drainage
tion of time and the time needed for the water drainage to
process to be relatively fast as compared to single-porosity
reach stable conditions. Based on these results, the duration
experiments and the capillary zone was observed after less
of the water drainage stage for all experiments was set at 3 h.
than 3 h. The occurrence of the capillary zone was observed
Based on the water drainage results, LNAPL injection
using the Image Pro Primier software depending on the dif-
commenced after 6 h from the start of the water drainage (or
ference in the light intensity in the vadose zone and the satu-
about 3 h after the drainage seized and the soil moisture con-
rated zone. The average light intensity of the saturated zone
tent reached a steady state. The movement of the injected
was very high as compared to the average light intensity in the
LNAPL was monitored until it reached a stable depth. The
vadose zone. The light intensity of the capillary zone on the

Fig. 5 Pre-test for water drainage and LNAPL infiltration to determine the duration needed to reach stable conditions
Hydrogeol J (2019) 27:581–593
other hand was between that of the vadose zone and the satu-
rated zone. This observation is due to the fact that the light
transmission of the porous media increases with increasing
water content (Hoa 1981). When LNAPL was released into
the flow chamber, it migrated deeper into the double-porosity
soil due to the gravitational force until it reached the capillary
zone. From the variations of the light intensity, it was observed
that the thickness of the saturated zone, capillary zone, and
vadose zone were 21, 11 and 13 cm, respectively.
Based on the captured images, an obvious change in the
shape and intensity of the red color of the toluene plume was
observed during the experiment as shown in Fig. 6. It can be
seen that the LNAPL shape and saturation were changed by
time during the downward migration of the high LNAPL vol-
ume in double-porosity soil. All images were calibrated by
converting the images from a red-green-blue (RGB) system
to a grey level system ranging from 0 to 4096 bits for black to
white pixels, respectively, using Image Pro. Premier Software.
This step is to ensure that the image will produce the full 4,096
grey levels present in the image. The normalized image has a
brighter plume and a darker background which contrasts with
the original grey image that has a darker plume of LNAPL and
a brighter background. The background of the normalized
image is darker because the background of the plume image
was subtracted from the background of the initial image. Any
Fig. 6 Dynamic change of
LNAPL shape and saturation
before rainfall for the case of high
LNAPL volume after a 30 min, b
60 min, c 120 min, d 240 min
587
changes due to increasing the LNAPL volume resulted in
brighter pixels containing higher intensity value.
Figure 7 shows the LNAPL migration in the flow chamber
as a function of time for two LNAPL volumes considered for
all experiments. The LTV images clearly show that the
LNAPL migration pattern depended on volume of released
LNAPL. The LNAPL was observed to migrate rapidly in the
first hour after LNAPL injection with average downward ve-
locities of 1.7 and 2.3 cm/h for the cases of 50 and 100 ml of
released LNAPL for double-porosity experiments, respective-
ly. This occurrence is most likely due to the higher pressure
exerted in the case of the larger LNAPL volume. Thereafter,
the LNAPL velocity started to slow down. The migration
depth of the LNAPL was also observed to be directly depen-
dent on the LNAPL volume released. From analysis of the
image light intensity variations, the LNAPL migrated 21 and
27 cm downwards for the cases of 50 and 100 ml of spilt
LNAPL, respectively. The same trend was observed in the
duplicate experiments (data are not shown). The higher vol-
ume of LNAPL provided a higher pressure to overcome the
capillary forces and force the LNAPL into the finer pores. The
LNAPL continued its downward migration until equilibrium
between the capillary (interfacial tension) and gravitational
forces is reached.; moreover, it was observed that the smaller
LNAPL volume took 2 h to reach a stable depth, whereas the
588
Fig. 7 LNAPL migration depth
for low and high cases before
rainfall recharge for single and
double-porosity experiments
high LNAPL volume reached a stable depth after approxi-
mately 6 h. For single-porosity experiments, the LNAPL
was observed to migrate slower than that in double-porosity
experiments with average downward velocities of 1 cm/h and
1.8 for the cases of 50 ml and 100 ml of released LNAPL,
respectively, which is most likely due to the occurrence of
macro-pores in double-porosity which have a significant ef-
fect on fluid migration. This observation is in agreement with
the findings of Alazaiza et al. (2017). In their study, they
investigated the PCE behavior in double-porosity medium
and compared it with single-porosity medium. They noted that
the macro-pores in double-porosity soil which constitute the
main difference in the composition of single and double-po-
rosity, have a substantial effect on the migration of PCE.
Alazaiza et al. (2017) compared their results with Ngien
et al. (2012) which reported the same results. Ngien et al.
(2012) conducted an experimental study for LNAPL migra-
tion in a 1-D column filled with double-porosity aggregated
kaolin and compared their results with single-porosity. They
reported that the LNAPL migrated much faster in the double-
porosity media as compared to those with single-porosity and
this is due to the presence of macro-pores. The LNAPL
reached a depth of 16 and 20 cm for the low and high
LNAPL spillage volumes, respectively.
LNAPL migration after infiltration
At the end of the LNAPL injection stage, the LNAPL reaches
a state of equilibrium whereby the capillary and gravitational
forces balance outs each other. This equilibrium status chang-
es once rainfall infiltrates the contaminated double-porosity
medium. The contaminated flow chamber was exposed to a
rainfall event for 2 h and subsequently imaged until the
LNAPL reached a stable depth, for a period of 2 h for the high
LNAPL volume case and 6 h for the low LNAPL volume
Hydrogeol J (2019) 27:581–593
case, until the LNAPL reached a stable depth. Figure 7 shows
the LNAPL depth as a function of time before and after the
rainfall event. Once rainfall is applied, water starts to infiltrate
downwards due to gravity. As a result of hydrodynamic forces
exerted on the entrapped LNAPL, the LNAPL in turn starts to
migrate downwards in all the experiments regardless of the
LNAPL volume or rainfall intensity, as shown in Fig. 7. The
observations showed that the LNAPL migration velocity was
relatively slow as compared to LNAPL velocity before water
infiltration in all the experiments. The LNAPL velocity was
1.1 and 1.6 cm/h for the low and high LNAPL spillage vol-
umes, respectively with a reduction rate of 64.7 and 70% in
the LNAPL migration velocity, respectively for the double-
porosity experiments. The LNAPL migrated downward until
it became entrapped in the capillary zone. The LNAPL
reached a depth of 25 and 36 cm for low and high LNAPL
spillage volumes, respectively. For the case of single-porosity
experiments, the LNAPL migration velocity was 0.7 and
1.2 cm/h for the low and high LNAPL spillage volumes, re-
spectively with a reduction rate of 70 and 66% in the LNAPL
migration velocity, respectively. This observation emphasizes
the influence of double-porosity medium on LNAPL migra-
tion under the effect of rainfall which contributes in higher
LNAPL velocity as compared to single-porosity medium.
The LNAPL reached a depth of 18 and 23 cm for the low
and high LNAPL spillage volumes, respectively.
Figure 8 shows images of the LNAPL migration in all of
the experiments as a result of the imposed infiltration. These
images clearly show the resolution of the LTV technique and
its ability to accurately simulate the downward migration of
the LNAPL. It was also observed that the capillary fringe
level was lowered in the saturated zone due to the influence
of rainfall recharge on the LNAPL plume. This observation
is consistent with a study conducted by Henry and Smith
(2002) who reported that upon the surfactant solution
Hydrogeol J (2019) 27:581–593 589

Fig. 8 Influence of rainfall on

LNAPL migration for low and
high-volume cases for single and
double-porosity experiments

reaching the capillary fringe, a depression of the capillary
fringe was observed. Therefore, the observed new reduced
capillary fringe height means that the contaminant can mi-
grate deeper through the saturated capillary zone and
approach the water table. It is believed that the surfactant
solution has a relatively similar effect compared to the
mobilized LNAPL since both materials have density less
than that of water. The density of solution surfactant in
Henry and Smith (2002) study is 0.99. Figures 9, 10 and
11 show the general behavior of LNAPL before and after

Fig. 9 LNAPL saturation

showing the influence of rainfall
on LNAPL migration for the case
of high LNAPL volume in
double-porosity experiments a
before rainfall, b after 30 min of
rainfall, c after 60 min of rainfall,
d after 120 min of rainfall (The
dashed line shows the capillary
fringe level before and after
rainfall)
590
Fig. 10 LNAPL saturation under
a low LNAPL volume before
rainfall, b low LNAPL volume
after rainfall, c high LNAPL
volume before rainfall, d high
LNAPL volume after rainfall for
double-porosity experiment. (The
dashed line shows the capillary
fringe level before and after
rainfall)
infiltration for the double-porosity and single-porosity exper-
iments, respectively.
Overall, it can be concluded that the two rainfall intensities
(light and heavy) caused the LNAPL that was entrapped in the
porous media to be pushed further downward in all the exper-
iments. In addition, the LNAPL downward migration velocity
was decreased in all the experiments with different reduction
rates.
Influence of LNAPL spillage volume
Comparison of the results of two LNAPL spillage volumes
(low and high) shows that in the case of low LNAPL spillage
volume, more LNAPL was spread through the LNAPL zone
when the LNAPL was exposed to a rainfall event. However, in
the case of high LNAPL spillage volume, the LNAPL contin-
ued to migrate vertically downward, as shown in Fig. 9. Two
factors influence the LNAPL migration in high and low
LNAPL volumes, as reported by Wipfler and Van Der Zee
(2001). The first factor is related to the LNAPL occupancy
state in the soil pores while the second factor is related to the
distribution of LNAPL saturation within the LNAPL zone
during its infiltration. In regard to the first factor, the presence
of the NAPL in the form of continuous blobs within soil pores
Hydrogeol J (2019) 27:581–593
influences the effect of rainfall recharge on LNAPL move-
ment. The connectivity of the non-wetting (LNAPL) liquid
is most likely to develop when the released liquid volume is
sufficient. This behavior means that the greater volume of
LNAPL, the more occupation of voids within the soil pores.
In turn, a bridge inside the soil pores within the water surface
is created because the LNAPL and water are immiscible
liquids.
For the second factor influencing the LNAPL migration,
the initial distribution of LNAPL saturation influences the
way the rainfall recharge affects contaminant movement.
When the spillage volume of LNAPL is high, it will more
rapidly migrate deeper due to the high weight of the LNAPL
spillage, which forces the LNAPL further downward with the
LNAPL occupying the larger soil pores due to capillarity dur-
ing its downward migration. However, for the case of low
LNAPL spillage volume, the LNAPL migration was found
to be relatively shallow; thus, the LNAPL saturation was
spread within a smaller LNAPL zone. These two conditions
caused different LNAPL saturation distributions and influ-
enced the available LNAPL-free pores in the vadose zone near
the top surface. In the case of the high LNAPL spillage vol-
ume, more available pores near the top surface existed where
the LNAPL saturation in this area was low as opposed to the
Hydrogeol J (2019) 27:581–593
Fig. 11 LNAPL saturation in
single-porosity experiments for a
low LNAPL volume before
rainfall, b low LNAPL volume
after rainfall, c high LNAPL
volume before rainfall, d high
LNAPL volume after rainfall.
(The dashed line shows the
capillary fringe level before and
after rainfall)
case of the low LNAPL volume. Thus, when the porous media
was subjected to rainfall event, the water more rapidly infil-
trated through the porous media when the volume of the avail-
able pores are high. This infiltration of rainfall recharge result-
ed in the LNAPL being forced further downward.
Overall, this study demonstrates the successful application
of the LTV technique for monitoring the influence of infiltra-
tion on LNAPL migration in double-porosity soil. LTV pro-
vides a rapid non-invasive tool with minimal instrumentation
to visualize NAPL migration. The LTV technique requires
significantly lower laboratory efforts compared to other visu-
alizing techniques such as X-ray and gamma-ray.
Conclusion
In this paper, laboratory experiments were conducted to inves-
tigate the influence of infiltration on LNAPL migration in
double-porosity soil media using the LTV technique under
different conditions. Four experiments were conducted for
two rainfall intensities (10 and 60 mm/h.) for two volumes
of LNAPL spillage (50 and 100 ml). The same experiments
were repeated by filling the flow chamber with silica sand as a
single-porosity for comparison purposes. Each experiment
consisted first of the LNAPL injection in the partially
591
saturated porous media followed by the application of rainfall
events. The results show that upon the injection of LNAPL
into the flow chamber, the LNAPL migrated downward in the
double-porosity medium under the influence of gravity until
the LNAPL reached the capillary zone. Interpretation of the
LTV images showed that the LNAPL migration rate was faster
for the case of high volume LNAPL compared to the case of
low volume LNAPL due to gravity which forced the LNAPL
into the porous medium at a faster rate. The average migration
velocity was 1.7 and 2.3 cm/h for the cases of 50 and 100 ml
of spilt LNAPL, respectively, for double-porosity experi-
ments. Thereafter, the LNAPL velocity started to slow down.
The migration depth of the LNAPL depends on the volume
released where the LNAPL migrated deeper in the case of the
high LNAPL volume. It was also observed that the LNAPL
migrated downwards 21 and 27 cm for the cases of 50 and
100 ml LNAPL, respectively. For single-porosity experi-
ments, the average migration velocity for LNAPL was 1 and
1.8 cm/h for the low and high LNAPL spillage volumes,
respectively.
Interpretation of the LTV images also showed that the in-
filtration caused the downward movement of the LNAPL
entrapped in porous media in all the experiments regardless
of the LNAPL volume and rainfall intensity that was tested.
However, the LNAPL downward velocity was 1.1 and 1.6 cm/
592
h for the low and high LNAPL spillage volumes, respectively,
a reduction rate of 64.7 and 70% relative to the LNAPL mi-
gration velocity during LNAPL injection for double-porosity
experiments. Furthermore, the LNAPL reached a depth of 25
and 36 cm for low and high LNAPL spillage volumes, respec-
tively for double-porosity experiments. For the case of single-
porosity experiments, the LNAPL downward velocity was 0.7
and 1.2 cm/h for the low and high LNAPL volumes, respec-
tively, a reduction rate of 70 and 66%. The LNAPL migrated
downward until it was entrapped in the capillary zone. In
addition, it was observed that the capillary fringe level was
depressed in the saturated zone due to the influence of rainfall
on the LNAPL plume. Regarding the effect of the LNAPL
spillage volume, it was found that in the case of low
LNAPL spillage volume, more mobile LNAPL was spread
within the LNAPL zone when the LNAPL was exposed to
the infiltration. However, in the case of high LNAPL spillage
volume, the LNAPL continued to migrate vertically down-
ward in all of the experiments. Two factors influenced the
LNAPL migration in high and low LNAPL volumes—the
first factor is related to the LNAPL occupancy state in the soil
pores, while the second factor is related to the distribution of
LNAPL saturation within the LNAPL plume during its
infiltration.
Overall, this study visually demonstrates that the infiltra-
tion can lead to the distribution of an LNAPL at the capillary
fringe a problem often encountered in real subsurface contam-
ination problem. This study also shows that the LTV tech-
nique which relies on variations in light intensity is an effec-
tive and relatively simple laboratory tool that can allow for
accurate visualization of the influence of infiltration on tran-
sient NAPL migration in complex soil media, under variable
dynamic conditions.
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