Evaluation of New Surfactants and Tracers

by
Shekhar Jayanti, MSE

University of Texas at Austin, 2000
Supervisor: Gary A. Pope

The main objectives of this research have been two-fold. First, to test new surfactant formulations so as to economically reduce non-aqueous phase liquid saturation in a porous medium. The surfactants that were evaluated were the alkyl propoxylated sulfates. The contaminant was tetrachloroethylene (PCE). Laboratory experiments were performed in soil columns.

Secondly, new tracers were evaluated for use in characterization of contaminated aquifers. Simulations were performed to help design a field-scale tracer test, with the emphasis being on the use of short half-life tracers. When used in conjunction with gamma ray logging, this offers a method to get a higher degree of vertical resolution than conventional PITTs.

The main contributions of this research were to prove the effectiveness of the new kind of surfactants for remediation. A tracer test with radiotracers will be soon performed in the field based on work done in this report.

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