Coupled fluid flow-precipitation model

The above-mentioned consideration indicates that important factors controlling the precipitations of barite and silica are surface area/water mass ratio (A/M), temperature, precipitation rate constant (k) and flow rate (u), and the coupled fluid flow-precipitation models are applicable to understanding the distributions of minerals in submarine hydrothermal ore deposits. 

Some applications of the coupled fluid flow-reaction model were carried out to the ore-forming process (e.g., Lichtner and Biino, 1992). However, a few attempts to understand quantitatively the precipitations of minerals from flowing supersaturated fluids in the submarine hydrothermal systems have been done (Wells and Ghiorso, 1991). Wells and Ghiorso (1991) discussed the silica behavior in midoceanic ridge hydrothermal system below the seafloor using a coupled fluid flow-reaction model. 

The behavior of silica and barite precipitation from the hydrothermal solution which mixes with cold seawater above and below the seafloor based on the thermochemical equilibrium model and coupled fluid flow-precipitation kinetics model is described below. 

The coupled fluid flow-precipitation kinetics model calculations indicate the following results ... 

Silica concentration in deep ground water in the granitic rock area (e.g., Kamaishi, Japan) is in equilibrium with SiOz mineral (chalcedony) (Fig. 1.27). Based on a coupled fluid flow-dissolution-precipitation kinetics model the relationship between residence time of deep ground water and A/M was derived, and the reasonable values of x is estimated to be more than 40 years (Shikazono and Fujimoto 2001). 

In this book we considered mass transfer and elemental migration between the atmosphere, hydrosphere, soils, rocks, biosphere and humans in earth s surface environment on the basis of earth system sciences. In Chaps. 2, 3, and 4, fundamental theories (thermodynamics, kinetics, coupling model such as dissolution kinetics-fluid flow modeling, etc.) of mass transfer mechanisms (dissolution, precipitation, diffusion, fluid flow) in water-rock interaction of elements in chemical weathering, formation of hydrothermal ore deposits, hydrothermal alteration, formation of ground water quality, seawater chemistry. However, more complicated geochemical models (multi-components, multi-phases coupled reaction-fluid flow-diffusion model) and phenomenon (autocatalysis, chemical oscillation, etc.) are not considered. 

A modelling approach that could fulfil this need is based on the stationary-state approximation to coupled fluid flow and water-rock interaction (Lichtner 1985, 1988). This model represents the chemical evolution of an open, flow-through system as a sequence of relatively long-lived stationary states of the system, which are linked in time by short-lived transients. The basis for the model is the observation that within a representative elemental volume of a rock-water system, the aqueous concentration of any particular species is generally much less than its concentration in minerals. Long periods of time are therefore necessary to dissolve, or precipitate, minerals such that the spatial distribution of mineral abundances, surface area, porosity and permeability is altered significantly. Each time interval represents a stationary state of the system, in which fluid composition, reaction rates and the distribution of primary and alteration minerals vary only as a function of position in the flow path, not of time. 

The coupled precipitation kinetics-fluid flow model was applied to the distribution of Si02 content and K2O content of the hydrothermally altered andesite in the Hishikari Au-Ag mine area, south Kyushu, Japan by Shikazono et al. (2002). This will be described in section 1.4.6. 

Figure2 Ohnishi et al. (1985) and Chijimatsu et al. (2000)) and reactive-mass transport model (inside the box named Chemical in Figure 2). This is a system of governing equations composed of Equations (l)-(9), which couple heat flow, fluid flow, deformation, mass transport and geochemical reaction in terms of following primary variables temperature T, pressure head y/, displacement u total dissolved concentration of the n master species C< > and total dissolved and precipitated concentration of the n" master species T,. Here we set master species as the linear independent basis for geochemical reactions, and speciation in solution and dissolution/precipitation of minerals are calculated by a series of governing equations for geochemical reaction. Now we adopt equilibrium model for geochemical reaction (Parkhurst et al. (1980)), mainly because of reliability and abundance of thermodynamic data for geochemical reaction.

Schreiner etal. (2001) modelled the precipitation process of CaC03 in the SFTR via direct solution of the coupled mass and population balances and CFD in order to predict flow regimes, induction times and powder quality. The fluid dynamic conditions in the mixer-segmenter were predicted using CFX 4.3 (Flarwell, UK). 

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