Laboratory Investigation of Air Flow Patterns in Saturated Sands during Air Sparging
Publication: Geoenvironmental Engineering
Abstract
A series of tests was performed to investigate the air flow patterns in saturated sands during air sparging. Test results show that air flow patterns are affected by the particle size of the sand as well as the air flow rate. Two types of gas-phase flow patterns have been observed, namely, channel flow and bubble flow. Basically, the channel flow pattern develops when the sand particle diameter is less than 1.0 mm; whereas, the bubble flow pattern occurs when the sand particle size is larger than 2.0 mm. It has been observed that a transition flow state exists when the sand particle size changes from 1.0 to 2.0 mm. The results indicate that air-phase saturation degree of the sand mass increases with the increased air flow rate. When the air flow rate exceeds a certain threshold value, the air phase saturation tends to reach a steady state. Given that the other conditions remain unchanged, the air-phase saturation of the soil mass increases with the decrease of the soil particle size. A pretty good linear relationship was found between air flow rate and air pressure. Based on the extrapolation method, the minimum air injection pressure is derived, which is an important parameter in design practice. Finally, the effect of sand particle size on the estimated capillary pressure is discussed.
Get full access to this chapter
View all available purchase options and get full access to this chapter.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
© 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Published online: May 22, 2014
ASCE Technical Topics:
- Air flow
- Channel flow
- Earth materials
- Flow (fluid dynamics)
- Flow patterns
- Flow rates
- Fluid dynamics
- Fluid mechanics
- Geomaterials
- Geomechanics
- Geotechnical engineering
- Hydrologic engineering
- Particle size distribution
- Sandy soils
- Saturated soils
- Soft soils
- Soil gas
- Soil mechanics
- Soil properties
- Soils (by type)
- Water and water resources
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.