We study the pore-scale dynamics of salt precipitation in three-dimensional drying porous media, utilizing high resolution x-ray microtomography and scanning electron microscopy. Our results illustrate that the salt precipitation patterns in drying porous media are nonuniform, manifesting the influence of the spatial distribution of pore sizes on the dynamics of salt crystallization and formation of discrete efflorescence. Results reveal that during stage-1 evaporation from saline porous media, the salt precipitation rate initially increases which is followed by a constant precipitation rate. This non-linear behaviour is attributed to the preferential liquid vaporization and salt precipitation in finer pores located at the surface of the porous medium contributing in evaporation according to the pore sizes. We also show that, contrary to common practice, the macroscopic convection-diffusion equation cannot provide accurate predictions for the dynamics of salt precipitation, at least at the early stages, due to the microscale heterogeneity of evaporation sites at the surface that results in salt precipitation exclusively in the finer pores.
HIghlights• Evaporation from porous media saturated with different salt solutions was investigated • Effects of ambient temperature, relative humidity and type of salt were discussed • Salt precipitation does not necessarily limit the evaporative flux • Strong direct correlation between evaporation and surface salt precipitation was found
AbstractSaline water evaporation from porous media is important in many processes such as soil salinization, CO 2 sequestration, crop production and water management. This process is influenced by the transport properties of porous media, properties of the evaporating solution and external conditions. In this work, we investigated the effects of external conditions and type of salt on the drying behaviour of sandy media and on the dynamics of surface salt precipitation. To do so, a comprehensive series of evaporation experiments were conducted using 33 columns packed with sand saturated with salt solutions. The evaporation experiments were conducted in an environmental chamber to investigate the effects of relative humidity, ambient temperature and type of salt on the evaporation process. Sodium Chloride, Calcium Chloride and Potassium Iodide with a wide range of concentration were used to saturate the sand columns mounted on digital balances. A digital camera was fixed at the surface of the sand packs to record the dynamics of salt precipitation at the surface. The results provide further confirmation that ambient conditions are the controlling factors during stage-1 evaporation of pure water. Additionally, the minor impact of the presence of precipitated salt at the surface on the saline water evaporation during the early stages of the process is discussed. Strong correlations between the cumulative water losses and the precipitation at the surface were found under different ambient conditions. The results obtained from different types of salt highlight the significant influence of the relationship between the saturated vapour pressure and salt concentration on the general dynamics of the process.
[1] Evaporation from porous media saturated with salt solution is influenced by the interactions among the transport properties of porous media, thermodynamics of the evaporating solution and environmental conditions. To study the effects of salt concentrations on the evaporation dynamics, we conducted a series of evaporation experiments under constant atmospheric conditions using columns packed with sand particles saturated with various NaCl solutions differing in concentrations. Results show that the evaporation rate decreases as NaCl concentration increases only up to a certain level. When exceeding this level, any further increase of NaCl concentration results in higher evaporation rates which is described theoretically using the thermodynamics of the solution. Results also reveal a nonlinear relation between NaCl concentrations and onset of efflorescence which is described by the numerical solution of the classical convection-diffusion equation. Moreover, we found a strong correlation between the growth dynamics of precipitated salt at the surface and the evaporation rate such that the maximum rate of surface coverage by salt coincide with the end of stage-1 evaporation. This potentially offers a new method to nondestructively study the evaporation process from saline porous media. Citation: Norouzi Rad, M., and N. Shokri (2012), Nonlinear effects of salt concentrations on evaporation from porous media, Geophys. Res. Lett., 39, L04403,
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