Use of a resistivity cone and a fuel fluorescence detector for the detection and mapping of contaminated sites

The analysis of the potentials and limits of two kinds of environmental penetrometers – a piezocone equipped with a resistivity module, and a penetrometer equipped with a fuel florescence detector system used in geotechnical testing in situ directed towards identifying and mapping contaminated sites - is presented through the results of laboratory testing conducted with such instruments. Experimental testing has enabled to verify, for measurements made with RCPTU, the influence of: the temperature, the NaC1 concentration, the sand porosity, the diesel fuel concentration, the mineralogy and granulometry of three different sands, and the percentage in weight of clay in the sand, and for a measurement of the fluorescence made with FFD, the influence of: the diesel fuel dilution, the porosity, the nature and granulometry of six different soils, the concentration of some hydrocarbons and their mixtures in the sand, and finally the percentage of clay in the sand.