Simulation of solute transport in a chemically reactive heterogeneous system: Model development and application

Abstract

One‐dimensional transport of solutes in a saturated porous medium has been simulated using a numerical model CHEMTRN. This model includes dispersion/diffusion, advection, ion exchange, formation of complexes in the aqueous phase, and the dissociation of water. The mass action, transport, and site constraint equations are expressed in a differential/algebraic form and solved simultaneously. In the mass action equations describing complexation and sorption processes, the activities of the species in the aqueous phase are approximated using the Davies equation. A solubility constraint can be set at the inner boundary. The model was applied to a study of the migration of strontium in groundwater. Results show that surface site competition is important when the strontium concentration is comparable to the background electrolyte concentration, in which case a constant kD model does not simulate the transport of chemical species adequately. In addition, the pH level was buffered to a level of approximately 10 near the wasteform due to the incorporation of the solubility constraint. For the particular case studied, the incorporation of aqueous complexation did not significantly enhance strontium mobility.