Diffusion and solid dissolution/precipitation in permeable media

Abstract

Abstract We have developed an analytical solution which describes mineral zonation caused by diffusion in permeable media. For a semiinfinite domain, the species conservation equations transform into ordinary differential equations that yield a closed‐form solution. The solution exhibits shock dissolution/precipitation fronts and gradual (nonshock) precipitation fronts. The solution can exhibit regions (gaps) containing no reactive solids which separate moving dissolution and precipitation fronts. The analysis is, in principle, extendable to include intraaqueous reactions, although the mathematics quickly becomes intractable. Numerical simulation exhibits all of the features of the more restricted analytical solution and is in good agreement with the data on hydroxyapatite dissolution taken by Kim and Cussler (1987).