Implementation and evaluation of permeability-porosity and tortuosity-porosity relationships linked to mineral dissolution-precipitation

Abstract

Changes of porosity, permeability, and tortuosity due to physical and geochemical processes are of vital importance for a variety of hydrogeological systems, including passive treatment facilities for contaminated groundwater, engineered barrier systems (EBS), and host rocks for high-level nuclear waste (HLW) repositories. Due to the nonlinear nature and chemical complexity of the problem, in most cases, it is impossible to verify reactive transport codes analytically, and code intercomparisons are the most suitable method to assess code capabilities and model performance. This paper summarizes model intercomparisons for six hypothetical scenarios with generally Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article

Reactive transport benchmarks for subsurface environmental simulation

“…The large concentration gradients in the context of the nonlinear mineral dissolution and precipitation provide an excellent test for the robustness of the simulators. The second benchmark relevant to nuclear waste repositories considers the effects of porosity, permeability and tortuosity evolution in 1D and 2D systems (Implementation and evaluation of permeability-porosity and tortuosity-porosity relationships linked to mineral dissolution-precipitation [17]). The porosity reduction is the result of reactions (principally gypsum precipitation), which in turn decrease the permeability to the point where flow is effectively stopped.…”

“…The first Subsurface Environmental Simulation workshop was held in Berkeley, CA on November [16][17][18]2011 …”

The HPx software for multicomponent reactive transport during variably-saturated flow: Recent developments and applications

“…Another benchmark study was used to verify the implementation of changes in the porosity, diffusion coefficient and hydraulic conductivity as a consequence of mineral precipitation and dissolution in multiple reactive transport models (Xie et al, 2015), including HP1. Valdes-Abellan et al (2017) developed a model (using HP1) to simulate the spatial-temporal evolution of soil hydraulic properties during non-conventional water irrigation during non-isothermal transient flow.…”

“…In addition to the coupling of microstructural changes due to mineral dissolution and precipitation to porosity and hydraulic properties (Freedman et al (2004), Wissmeier and Barry (2009), Xie et al (2015)), fluid properties such as viscosity and density, which are linked to the hydraulic properties of porous media, depend upon the composition of the aqueous solution (Laliberté (2007), Laliberté and Cooper (2004), Sharqawy et al (2010)). Biomass accumulation or biofilm production during microbiological reactions can also induce changes in hydraulic properties, which may potentially influence the coupled hydrological-physical-geochemical-biological processes operative in porous media and, consequently, such processes as flow paths, the performance of biofilters, and the transport of colloids (e.g., Bozorg et al (2015a), Bozorg et al (2015b), Carles Brangarí et al (2017), Or et al (2007), Rockhold et al (2002), Yarwood et al (2006)).…”

Simulating the Fate and Transport of Coal Seam Gas Chemicals in Variably-Saturated Soils Using HYDRUS

“…This is important since concentrations of gas components may significantly affect various chemical reactions or their rates [66]. Additionally, an option to change the hydraulic and solute transport properties as a function of evolving geochemical state variables has been implemented [67]. For example, bacterial growth and/or clogging can affect porosity and corresponding physical properties.…”