Chemical reactions of all types influence species transport in porous media. Examples include biodegradation, radioactive decay, transformation to tracked products, temperature- and pressure-dependent functions, exothermic reactions, and endothermic reactions. The reactions represent change in species concentration per unit volume porous medium per time. Reaction terms are used on the right-hand side of the governing equation to represent these processes. For reactions in a fluid phase, multiply the expression by the fluid volume fraction θ. Similarly, solid phase reaction expressions include the bulk density, ρb, and gas phase reactions include the gas volume fraction, av.

where λ is the chemical half life, ζ is a reaction rate, and the subscripts L, P, and G denote liquid, solid, and gas phases, respectively. In the equations, the reactions either depend on liquid concentration ci or solid phase concentrations cPi obtained using the sorption derivative with ci or gas phase concentration cGi depending on the gas volume fraction, the volatilization, and the liquid concentration.

Reaction rates can vary with results from other equations in your model, such as temperature. For example, enter the Arrhenius rate law given in Ref. 14:

In Equation 8-38, T denotes the current absolute temperature, TR denotes the reference absolute temperature, Ea is the activation energy, and Ru is the universal gas constant.