Patent ID: 7393689

Claim:
A method for determining an amount of coal tar that can enter a given type of soil at a range of soil depths at a field site, comprising: placing a soil sample free of coal tar from a site in a pressurizable chamber; filling the pressurizable chamber with water, thereby displacing gas from the pressurizable chamber; feeding coal tar at a first predetermined pressure to the pressurizable chamber, thereby pressurizing the soil sample to the first predetermined pressure and displacing a portion of the water with the coal tar to create an amount of displaced water; measuring the amount of the displaced water to determine an amount of coal tar that entered the soil sample; repeating the feeding coal tar and the measuring the amount of the displaced water at a plurality of additional predetermined pressures to provide a plurality of pressures and corresponding amounts of coal tar that entered the soil sample; and correlating each of the pressures to a depth of soil at a field site to determine an amount of coal tar that can enter the soil at a range of soil depths at the field site.