On the inclusion of geochemical effects in coupled processes in soils

This paper examines some aspects of geochemical transport processes in soils. A numerical model, developed within a mechanistic framework to represent coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical processes, based on conservation of mass and energy and stress-strain equilibrium Equations forms the basis of the approach. Multi-component chemical transport and geochemical processes are considered within this framework via the coupling of the chemical variables with the thermo-hydro-mechanical variables. This aspect forms the main emphasis of this paper. Charge conservation is ensured within the multi-component chemical transport Equations assuming dilute conditions. Two applications have been presented to demonstrate the versatility of the model to deal with complex coupled scenarios.