DyeLIF™: A New Direct‐Push Laser‐Induced Fluorescence Sensor System for Chlorinated Solvent DNAPL and Other Non‐Naturally Fluorescing NAPLs
Authors: Einarson Murray , Fure Adrian , St. Germain Randy , Chapman Steven , Parker Beth 
Published: June 2018

DyeLIF™ is a new version of laser‐induced fluorescence (LIF) for high‐resolution three‐dimensional subsurface mapping of nonaqueous phase liquids (NAPLs) in the subsurface. DyeLIF eliminates the requirement that the NAPL contains native fluorophores (such as those that occur in compounds like polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons [PAHs]) and can therefore be used to detect chlorinated solvents and other nonfluorescing NAPLs that had previously been undetectable with conventional LIF tools. With DyeLIF, an aqueous solution of water and nontoxic hydrophobic dye is continuously injected ahead of the sapphire detection window while the LIF probe is being advanced in the subsurface. If soil containing NAPL is penetrated, the injected dye solvates into the NAPL within a few milliseconds, creating strong fluorescence that is transmitted via fiber‐optic filaments to aboveground optical sensors. A detailed field evaluation of the novel DyeLIF technology was performed at a contaminated industrial site in Lowell, Massachusetts, USA where chlorinated solvent dense nonaqueous phase liquid (DNAPL) persists below the water table in sandy sediments. Continuously cored boreholes were drilled adjacent to 5 of 30 DyeLIF probes that were advanced at that site. The cores were subsampled in high resolution to generate discrete‐depth soil samples as splits at the same depths where DNAPL was detected in the colocated DyeLIF probes. The cores were analyzed above ground using (1) colorimetric screening using hydrophobic dye tests, (2) laboratory extraction and quantitative chemical analysis, (3) “Benchtop” DyeLIF, and (4) volumetric moisture content. Correlation between DyeLIF and aboveground analyses of the soil cores was excellent: 98% agreement with positive DNAPL detections in samples where DNAPL pore saturations were >0.7% (based on quantitative soil analyses) and the ex situ tests. DyeLIF produced the equivalent of one aboveground colorimetric dye test every 0.2 inch (0.5 cm) of probing. With average daily probing of 395 linear feet (120.4 m), this was the equivalent of 12,039 discrete‐depth colorimetric dye tests/day. Because DyeLIF is an in situ measurement, there are no issues with soil core recovery like there would be for conventional ex situ colorimetric dye tests and 100% characterization of the probed intervals is achieved. Tracking the injection rate and pressure of the dye solution provides simultaneous data regarding relative soil permeability, similar to other direct push (DP) hydraulic profiling tools. Conventional LIF is considered the premier DP tool to identify and map NAPL containing PAHs in the subsurface or confirm its absence. While chlorinated solvent DNAPLs at some field sites contain impurities (e.g., solvated greases or oils) that make them detectable with conventional LIF techniques, at other sites, the DNAPL cannot be detected with conventional LIF. At such sites, the injection of a hydrophobic dye ahead of the sapphire window with the DyeLIF system now makes the LIF technology applicable to the many types of NAPLs that were previously invisible using conventional LIF techniques.