Laboratory demonstration of hydrocarbon migration in the vadose zone: Effectiveness of the U-tube design for underground storage tank leak detection monitoring

The experimental results derived from a laboratory model of gasoline migration from a simulated leaking underground storage tank (UST) demonstrate that the direction of migration through the simulated fill material is essentially straight down. Consequently,, the U-tube design for leak detection monitoring of USTs has limited utility because that design relies on the assumption that the path of migration of the leaked fluids will follow the surface of the tank to the bottom and be intercepted by the U-tube below