Migration of a pollutant through a natural clay liner

Tests have been performed on a reconstituted natural clay mixed with water and kerosene to investigate the variation of hydraulic conductivity with stress history and void ratio. The effects on the hydraulic conductivity of forcing kerosene through water saturated soil have been investigated. The permeability of the kerosene saturated and permeated soil has been found to be 5 orders of magnitude greater than the water saturated and permeated soil. The flow of kerosene through the water saturated soil did not satisfy Darcy’s law; no flow was detected until a breakthrough pressure, dependent on the void ratio, was exceeded, and thereafter, the apparent hydraulic conductivity was almost linearly related to the flow rate.