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Modeling reactive geochemical transport of concentrated aqueous solutions
Author(s) -
Zhang Guoxiang,
Zheng Zuoping,
Wan Jiamin
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
water resources research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.863
H-Index - 217
eISSN - 1944-7973
pISSN - 0043-1397
DOI - 10.1029/2004wr003097
Subject(s) - aqueous solution , dissolution , ionic strength , ionic bonding , chemistry , ion , thermodynamics , physics , organic chemistry
Aqueous solutions with ionic strength larger than 1 M are usually considered concentrated aqueous solutions. These solutions can be found in some natural systems and are also industrially produced and released into accessible natural environments, and as such, they pose a big environmental problem. Concentrated aqueous solutions have unique thermodynamic and physical properties. They are usually strongly acidic or strongly alkaline, with the ionic strength possibly reaching 30 M or higher. Chemical components in such solutions are incompletely dissociated. The thermodynamic activities of both ionic and molecular species in these solutions are determined by the ionic interactions. In geological media the problem is further complicated by the interactions between the solutions and sediments and rocks. The chemical composition of concentrated aqueous solutions when migrating through the geological media may be drastically altered by these strong fluid‐rock interactions. To effectively model reactive transport of concentrated aqueous solutions, we must take into account the ionic interactions. For this purpose we substantially extended an existing reactive transport code, BIO‐CORE 2D© , by incorporating a Pitzer ion interaction model to calculate the ionic activity. In the present paper, the model and two test cases of the model are briefly introduced. We also simulate a laboratory column experiment in which the leakage of highly alkaline waste fluid stored at Hanford (a U.S. Department of Energy site, located in Washington State) was studied. Our simulation captures the measured pH evolution and indicates that all the reactions controlling the pH evolution, including cation exchanges and mineral dissolution/precipitation, are coupled.