CE 7190 – Winter, 2003

April 7, 2003

In tonight’s session, I’d like to begin discussion of some more complex topics pertinent
to the movement of contaminants in the vadose zone. I think that discussion of these
topics will add some clarity to the HSSM model.

Relationship between soil moisture (or saturation) and soil pressure head (suction)

During the drainage process, air displaces moisture that’s held in the pore space between
solid grains of a saturated porous material. Note: saturation = fraction of pore space
filled by a particular fluid. In civil engineering we’re more familiar in dealing with the
moisture content being presented as volumetric moisture content. The relation is S = /n,
where  is the volumetric fluid content and n is volumetric soil porosity. (Recall typical
values for vary between 0.05 – n; and n varies between .25 - .45). So, saturation varies
between 0 and 1. As the % moisture, or saturation, decreases, the remaining pore water is
held at increasingly negative values of pressure (i.e. less than atmospheric pressure).
Compare this to the case of a fully saturated porous material, in which case the pore
water is assumed to be continuous, and in contact with surface atmospheric pressure, with
the pore water at zero (gage) pressure, and greater at depths, as dictated by the
hydrostatic pressure laws. So, we expect the soil water pressure head to decrease as air
displaces the water and conversely, we expect the soil water suction head to increase (i.e.
pressure become more negative) as air displaces the water. The relationship between soil
moisture (or saturation) and pressure head is provided in a retention curve, also known as
soil water characteristic curve. This curve shows the dependence of pressure head on
saturation.

It is well known that the permeability of the porous medium to fluid flow is ALSO
dependent on the saturation. Since saturation can be a time varying parameter, likewise

CE 7190 – April 7, 2003 class 1

for permeability. The figures on the next page (Fig 1 and 2) indicate typical forms of the
two relationships just discussed (: and K:. These types of relationships hold for 2-
phase (air/water) flow and for 3-phase (NAPL/water/air) flow.

The relationship between saturation and pressure head (Figure 1) can be determined
experimentally or analytically. Two common analytical equations used to define the
relationship in Figure 1 are known as the Brooks and Corey equation and the van
Genuchten equation. The Brooks and Corey equation is:

(1)

where Swr is the irreducible (residual) water saturation, is called the pore size
distribution index, and hce is the air entry head. These are parameters you enter in HSSM

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 Figure 1 Figure 2

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CE 7190 – April 7, 2003 class 4
in the “Hydrologic Parameters” screen. Similar parameters, although in a different form,
are required if you opt to use the van Genuchten expression (also supported in HSSM).

The soil’s unsaturated permeability (Figure 2) can be related to the soil water
characteristic curve shown in (1), and described by an equation such as Brooks and
Corey. In addition, the value of a soil’s saturated permeability has been empirically
related to the coefficients of this curve. For example, Brakensiek, et al. (1981) found
the relationship to be:

(2)

where C is a constant taken as 270 by some and 21 by others (we’ll use the 270 value).
m is the maximum water content, and other paramters were defined earlier in the Brooks
and Corey equation. The following pages (pages 5,6,7) show some representative
values to use for these parameters, as well as showing the predicted value of K s (Table
96). Figure 43 (from your HSSM manual) shows the resulting soil water characteristic
curve (SWCC) from using a Brook’s and Corey type equation, and compares it to some
experimental measurements of points on the SWCC for a variety of soils.

The important thing I hope you see is what these parameters are used for…..how they
play a role in your predicted solution of vadose zone contamination, oil lense spreading,
and aquifer contamination.

Our discussion of Problems 1 and 2 of the tutorial section, involved model parameters
used by HSSM. I think we need further clarity on the definition/use of some of these
terms.

CE 7190 – April 7, 2003 class 5

Maximum Relative Permeability to Water: During drainage, the air in the pore space is
displaced by water (assuming air and water are the two fluids. When there is a third fluid
this is also true, although we need to account for the NAPL….I will continue for now
assuming we are dealing with water and air only…and we can extend the concepts as
needed). The definition of relative permeability:

krw decreases from 1.0 to 0, as the saturation decreases from 1.0 to residual. This process
is known as drainage. Imbibition means displacement of air by water. This is what
occurs with a wetting front. The krw vs. saturation relationship follows the same path for
this process. However, not all the air is displaced. The residual saturation of air, i.e. the
saturation of entrapped air may be on the order of 10%. Because of the steepness of the
krw relationship, this means the maximum value of krw is likely quite a bit less than 1.0,
perhaps on the order of 0.5 (the value used in example problem 1).

Notice how Brooks and Corey parameters are used in the tutorial problem #1 on pages 69
– 70 ( for example notice how the saturated vertical hydraulic conductivity is determined
for the input, and the capillary pressure curve model input parameters, as well as the
maximum krw value).

Values of density and viscosity: these are needed to convert the information on
permeability to water into information relating to the NAPL phase movement. We’ve

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already discussed that permeability (hydraulic conductivity) is not a constant for any
particular vadose zone or aquifer: it is dependent on the fluid properties of the fluid phase
that is being tracked. Equation 10 of Secton 4 of the User’s Manual (this was handed out
to you) gives the relationship:

Also note: the relationship between permeability (hydraulic conductivity) and intrinsic
permeability is:

Ksi = (k ig)/i

where k is the intrinsic permeability of the medium, i is the density of the fluid, g is the
acceleration due to gravity, and i is the dynamic viscosity of fluid i.

Kinematic models are unit gradient models where drainage occurs due to the force of
gravity and capillary pressure gradients are neglected. The downward Darcy volume flux
of phase i is:

qi = Kei = Ksikri

where Kei is called effective hydraulic conductivity of the medium to fluid i, K si is the
fully saturated conductivity of i, and Kri is the relative permeability of the medium to
fluid i. In order to solve this equation for the actual fluxes (velocities), as is done in
HSSM, it is necessary to know the relative permeability for each phase. One way to do
this is to use the unsaturated soil water characteristic curve to yield an equation for
relative permeability. For example, using the Brooks and Corey equation, one arrives at:

krw = ((Sw – Swr)/(1-Swr))



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 
where it can clearly be seen that relative permeability is related to the saturation, and that
it decreases with decreasing saturation, down to a value of 1.0 for S w = Swr. In this
equation,

 = (2+3)/



There is a similar equation for the oil phase, although somewhat more complicated. The
point, here, is that if the saturation of each phase is known, the hydraulic conductivity for
each phase can be calculated,…and since this is a kinematic model ….then the flux
(velocity) is known as soon as the hydraulic conductivity to that phase is known:

qi = Kei = Ksikri

NAPL/Water Partition Coefficient: This parameter is best described by reviewing pages

173-175 of the attached material from the HSSM User’s Manual. Be especially aware of
equation 43.

CE 7190 – April 7, 2003 class 8