[Research on the characteristic of toluene migration and distribution in fluvoaquic soil and its simulation using...

Frequently accidental spill of hazard materials into soil environment posed significant threats to human health and natural environment in China. In this paper, simulated nonaqueous phase liquid (NAPLs) toluene sudden spill in fluvo-aquic soil was performed in a two-dimensional tank to investigate the migration and distribution characteristics of toluene as well as its simulation through STOMP model. Visual observation showed that the horizontal expansion of toluene with concentration > 1 g x kg(-1) and > 20 g x kg(-1) were approximate 2.3 and 3 times the length of the corresponding vertical transportation, respectively. The result revealed that toluene exerted a preferential tendency to lateral spread compared to the vertical migration trends, which may contribute to the impeding effect as a result of the low permeable capacity of soil (permeability coefficient was 0.12 cm x h(-1)). The behavior and fate of toluene in heterogeneous soil layers (combined fluvo-aquic-sand and sand-fluvo-aquic soil layers, respectively) after spill were simulated using STOMP model and the results indicated that the significant difference in relative permeability of interface layer, due to the much higher value of permeability coefficient of sand (29.70 cm x h(-1)) than that of fluvo-aquic soil, played an important role on the redistribution of toluene after its spill into the heterogeneous soil layers. For practical purposes, the results of this study may be beneficial to identify the distribution property of NAPLs in time after its release into the soil environment.