Time-lapse ground penetrating radar (GPR) imaging of used engine oil contamination

Year 2024, , 175 - 188, 26.04.2024

Hafiz Mohammed Nazifi Ertan Pekşen Ertuğrul Gürbüz Levent Gülen

https://doi.org/10.19111/bulletinofmre.1282076

Abstract

Time-Lapse Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) was employed to study used engine oil (UEO) contamination of sandy environment in laboratory setting. GPR is a near-surface geophysical method that uses electromagnetic field to provide image of the dielectric properties of earth materials to detect structures and changes in material properties within the subsurface. This research aimed to detect, monitor and map the migration of UEO contaminant in sand. The results of this study revealed that the migration of the UEO contamination in homogeneously laid sand is non-uniform. UEO plumes were identified as high amplitude signals with enhanced reflectivity. There was a progressive decrease in GPR signal amplitudes (reflection reduction) within the contaminated area of the tank with time. This decrease of GPR signal amplitudes was interpreted as caused by the evaporation of some portion of the UEO in the vadose zone as a result of temperature increase in time and also due to the occurrence of UEO biodegradation. The time-lapse GPR proved to be an effective technique for detecting, monitoring, and mapping UEO migration within sand tank in laboratory setting.

Keywords

Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), Used Engine Oil (UEO), Contamination, Light Non-Aqueous Phase Liquid (LNAPL), Environmental Geophysics.

Ethical Statement

The authors are grateful to the Scientific and Technical Research Council of Türkiye [TÜBİTAK (Project No: 119Y193)] and the Research Fund of Sakarya University [BAPK (Project No: 2019- 7-25-37)] for supporting this study. The authors are grateful to the Sakarya University Research, Development and Application Center (SARGEM) for providing laboratory space for this experiment. We thank the personnel of the TÜPRAŞ İzmit Refinery Laboratories for the determination of physical and chemical properties of the UEO that we used in this study. We thank Prof. Dr. Halim MUTLU for editorial handling and anonymous reviewers for constructive suggestions which improved the manuscript. Contributions to the study: Hafiz MOHAMMED NAZIFI contributed to the study conception and design and he was supervised by Prof. Dr. Levent GÜLEN. Data acquisitions were performed by Hafiz MOHAMMED NAZIFI, Ertuğrul GÜRBÜZ and Ertan PEKŞEN. Data analysis and interpretation were performed by Hafiz MOHAMMED NAZIFI and supervised by Levent GÜLEN and Ertan PEKŞEN. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Hafiz MOHAMMED NAZIFI and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Supporting Institution

The authors are grateful to the Scientific and Technical Research Council of Türkiye [TÜBİTAK (Project No: 119Y193)] and the Research Fund of Sakarya University [BAPK (Project No: 2019- 7-25-37)] for supporting this study.

Project Number

TÜBİTAK (Project No: 119Y193)-BAPK (Project No: 2019- 7-25-37)

Thanks

The authors are grateful to the Scientific and Technical Research Council of Türkiye [TÜBİTAK (Project No: 119Y193)] and the Research Fund of Sakarya University [BAPK (Project No: 2019- 7-25-37)] for supporting this study. The authors are grateful to the Sakarya University Research, Development and Application Center (SARGEM) for providing laboratory space for this experiment. We thank the personnel of the TÜPRAŞ İzmit Refinery Laboratories for the determination of physical and chemical properties of the UEO that we used in this study. We thank Prof. Dr. Halim MUTLU for editorial handling and anonymous reviewers for constructive suggestions which improved the manuscript. Contributions to the study: Hafiz MOHAMMED NAZIFI contributed to the study conception and design and he was supervised by Prof. Dr. Levent GÜLEN. Data acquisitions were performed by Hafiz MOHAMMED NAZIFI, Ertuğrul GÜRBÜZ and Ertan PEKŞEN. Data analysis and interpretation were performed by Hafiz MOHAMMED NAZIFI and supervised by Levent GÜLEN and Ertan PEKŞEN. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Hafiz MOHAMMED NAZIFI and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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