Partition behavior of surfactants, butanol, and salt during application of density-modified displacement of dense non-aqueous phase liquids

Highlights: ► Aqueous surfactant increases the partition of butanol aqueous phase. ► Water partition to NAPL phase via butanol and surfactant in NAPL phase. ► PCE partition to aqueous phase by solubilization into micelles. ► Surfactants cause the dramatically partition of water to NAPL phase. ► Aqueous salt dispels surfactant to NAPL phase. -- Abstract: Density-modified displacement (DMD) is a recent approach for removal of trapped dense NAPL (DNAPL). In this study, butanol and surfactant are contacted with the DNAPL to both reduce the density as well as release the trapped DNAPL (perchloroethylene: PCE). The objective of the study was to determine the distribution of each component (e.g., butanol, surfactant, water, PCE) between the original aqueous and PCE phases during the application of DMD. The results indicated that the presence of the surfactant increased the amount of n-butanol required to make the NAPL phase reach its desired density. In addition, water and anionic surfactant were found to partition along with the BuOH into the PCE phase. The water also found partitioned to reverse micelles in the modified phase. Addition of salt was seen to increase partitioning of surfactant to BuOH containing PCE phase. Subsequently, a large amount of water was solubilized into reverse micelles which lead to significantly increase in volume of the PCE phase. This work thus demonstrates the role of each component and the implications for the operation design of an aquifer treatment using the DMD technique