Magnetic resonance imaging of enhanced mobility of light non aqueous phase liquid (LNAPL) during drying of water wet porous media

Visualization of NAPLs in multiphase systems in porous media is important for determining contaminant transport in the environment. In this study, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used to confirm the recent observations of mobilisation of a light non aqueous phase liquid (LNAPL) trapped in wet sand under natural drying conditions of the wet porous medium. Visualization of LNAPL (motor oil) and water mobility during the drying of wet glass beads (0.5 mm) in a cylindrical glass column (15 mm ID, 45 mm long) was obtained using spin echo-based NMR microimaging performed at 500 MHz, corresponding to a field of ca. 11.75 T. Sagittal and axial images of LNAPL and water in the porous medium were obtained at a spatial resolution of 59 μm/pixel at different time intervals. A rise of 15–20 mm was observed in the presence of evaporation of water as compared to a 2–3 mm rise in the absence of evaporation in a time span of about 1400 min. The spatio-temporal MRI scans of the water and LNAPL in the glass column reveals that LNAPL rise occurs when the water evaporation front reaches the LNAPL layer. This implied that the enhanced LNAPL rise was strongly linked to the process of water evaporation. A linear correlation of the MRI signal intensities of LNAPL and water with reference to different saturation levels of LNAPL and water in the porous media was obtained. This calibration information was used to quantify the saturation levels of the LNAPL and water during the drying process. These findings show the application of non-invasive techniques such as MRI in quantifying and understanding the mechanism of fate and transport of LNAPLs in porous media, towards effective environmental quality assessment.