U.K. The risk to groundwater quality following a sub-surface spillage of immiscible pollutants such as oil, petroleum and other organic chemicals is an increasingly potent threat, through escalating industrial application of such pollutants. This study significantly enhances the understanding of the flow of immiscible pollutants within soil, through field scale investigations to define the spatial variability and extent of a contaminated area and the development of a comprehensive framework for the analysis of oil pollutant migration. The research shows that quantity of pollutant is a critical factor in determining the extent of oil migration. Permeability and porosity of the sample material are also important secondary factors.
High permeability assists the migration of oil pollutants.
Soils with a high porosity allow the pollutant to migrate vertically under the influence of gravity, whereas soils with low porosity induce lateral oil migration, as the oil spreads from the point of injection. A full scale field study using contrasting soil types determines that oil migration is approximately symmetrical about the point of injection. Experimental data is used to establish modelling capabilities for the characterisation of pollutant migration. Modelling is undertaken at two levels. The first consists of the development of simple Gaussian equations based upon observations of oil glomuses.