Effects of Clay Content and Temperature on Crude Oil (Nonvolatile Components) Transport in Unsaturated Soils: Centrifuge Study

Surface soil contamination due to oil spill is one of the major environmental concerns. The extent of the contaminated depth governs the design and installation of remediation method and monitoring system. Physical modeling of oil contaminant in unsaturated soils was conducted using a centrifuge. Preliminary results on effects of clay content and temperature on the contaminant profile near the surface are presented. The experimental results indicate that centrifuge modeling may be a viable method to study the problem of immiscible oil movement in partially water-saturated soils.