Ion-exchange reactions on clay minerals coupled with advection/dispersion processes. Application to Na+/Ca2+ exchange on vermiculite: Reactive-transport modeling, batch and stirred flow-through reactor experiments

Abstract : The present study aims at testing the validity of using an Na+/Ca2+ ion-exchange model, derived from batch data to interpret experimental Ca2+-for-Na+ exchange breakthrough curves obtained on vermiculite (a common swelling clay mineral in surface environments). The ion-exchange model was constructed considering the multi-site nature of the vermiculite surface as well as the exchange of all aqueous species (Mg2+ derived from the dissolution of the solid and H+). The proposed ion-exchange model was then coupled with a transport model, and the predicted breakthrough curves were compared with the experimental ones obtained using a well stirred flow-through reactor. For a given solute residence time in the reactor (typically 50 min), our thermodynamic model based on instantaneous equilibrium was found to accurately reproduce several of the experimental breakthrough curves, depending on the Na+ and Ca2+ concentrations of the influents pumped through the reactor. However the model failed to reproduce experimental breakthrough curves obtained at high flow rates and low chemical gradient between the exchanger phase and the solution. An alternative model based on a hybrid equilibrium/kinetic approach was thus used and allowed predicting experimental data. Based on these results, we show that a simple parameter can be used to differentiate between thermodynamic and kinetic control of the exchange reaction with water flow. The results of this study are relevant for natural systems where two aquatic environments having contrasted chemistries interact. Indeed, the question regarding the attainment of a full equilibrium in such a system during the contact time of the aqueous phase with the particle/colloid remains most often open. In this context, we show that when a river (a flow of fresh water) encounters marine colloids, a systematic full equilibrium can be assumed (i.e., the absence of kinetic effects) when the residence time of the solute in 1 m3 of the system is ⩾6200 h.