FACTORS INFLUENCING SEAR PROCESS EFFICIENCY

The influence of transport phenomena and theological properties on SEAR process efficiency has been studied through a combination of single and parallel sandpack flooding experiments. These were conducted using an aqueous anionic surfactant solution (MA-80) to recover trichloroethylene (TCE) from sandpacks prepared with Ottawa sand and the evolution of pressure along the sandpacks was monitored continuously. While high levels of TCE recovery were achieved in all cases, the flow experiments provided evidence for the formation of viscous NAPL/surfactant phases and for relative permeability effects during the surfactant flood that will tend to reduce SEAR process efficiency compared to the results that might be extrapolated from simple linear flow experiments. SCOPUS