EAS 6212: Geochemical Kinetics

L1116 ES&T: MWF 9-10 am

Professor: Martial Taillefert
Office: 1238 ES&T
Phone: (404) 894-6043
e-mail: mtaillef@eas.gatech.edu

Course Material:

Course material will be based on class notes, handouts, and assigned readings. There are no textbooks for the course, but the following will be used regularly:

• Bernard P. Boudreau. 1997. Diagenetic Models and their Implementation: modelling transport and reactions in aquatic sediments. Springer.
• Kenneth A. Connors. 1990. Chemical Kinetics. The study of reaction rates in solution. VCH Publishers Ltd.
• Antonio Lasaga. 1997. Kinetic Theory in the Earth Sciences. Princeton Series in Geochemistry.
• Jerald L. Schnoor. 1996. Environmental Modeling: Fate and transport of pollutants in water, air, and soil. Wiley.
• Werner Stumm and James J. Morgan. 1996. Aquatic Chemistry. Chemical equilibria and rates in natural waters. Wiley.

Grading: One mid-term and one final: 50% Homeworks: 25% Project + presentation: 25%

Course Outline:

1. Introduction to Geochemical Kinetics
   - Kinetics vs. thermodynamics
   - Notion of time and applications of kinetics in geochemistry
   - Elementary and overall reactions
   
   
2. Reaction mechanisms and rates
   - Rate equations and stoichiometric equations
   - Sequential reactions, parallel reactions, and rate-determining step
   - Temperature and ionic strength dependence of reaction rates
   - Integrated rate equations
   - Experimental determination of reaction orders
   
   
3. Theory of chemical kinetics
   - The Arrhenius Equation
   - Collision theory
   - Transition state theory
   
   
4. Kinetics at the solid-water interface
   - Adsorption
   - Dissolution
   - Aggregation
   - Nucleation and crystal growth
   
   
5. Reactor kinetics
   - Batch reactors
   - Continuous-Flow Stirred-Tank Reactors (CSTR)
   - Plug Flow Reactors (PFR)
   
   
6. Reactive transport
   - The conservation equations
   - Advection and diffusion
   - Chemical reactions and transport
   - Governing equations for the transport of multiple reactive species
   - Boundary conditions
   - Diagenetic equations
   - Analytical and numerical solutions