Detection of hydrocarbon spills by means of a coaxial impedance dielectric sensor

Leakages from storage tanks or pipes frequently produce pollution of soils and groundwater reservoirs by hydrocarbons. Common practices for monitoring and characterising site contamination involve soil drilling, sampling and chemical analysis, complemented with geophysical surveys. This study evaluates the presence of paraffin oil inside soil pores by means of dielectric permittivity measurements, using a coaxial impedance device in laboratory-scale models. The real dielectric permittivity of unsaturated sand is measured before, during and after a contamination process. Monitoring small variations in real dielectric permittivity allows detection of the partial replacement of air (κ′ = 1) by paraffin oil (κ′ ≈ 2) in soil pores. These variations in soil dielectric properties enable pollution levels to be assessed, knowing in advance the κ′ of the soil at the initial stage and measuring the influence of oil and water content on κ′. The technique proposed can also be used for monitoring the lateral extension of a contaminant plume and can be successfully applied at the laboratory scale for oil leakage detection by periodically monitoring changes in the soil dielectric permittivity.