Abstract:

It’s difficult to measure water content of oil-contaminated porous medium accurately by conventional oven drying method, because there are two kinds of liquids (water and oil) in the porous medium, which will volatilize simutaneously when drying. On the basis of conventional oven drying method, we proposed a definition and formula in testing water content of the oil-contaminated porous medium. The oil loss ratio in porous medium was measured according to volatilization characteristics of water and oil. Finally, an improved oven drying method was developed to measure water content in the oil-contaminated porous medium. The results show that testing error of this measuring technique is at order of about 0.10~0.50%, which is lower than that of the conventional oven drying method. This improved oven drying method can be used for  lab studies of oil-contaminated porous medium.

Key words: oil-contaminated porous medium, water content, measuring technique, drying method