Dissolution kinetics of Carrera marble, Portland stone and several limestones in acid waters

Abstract

The rate of dissolution (at 25 °C), in acidic waters (dilute hydrochloric acid, pH 3), of six calcium carbonate containing rocks (Carrera marble, Portland stone, Abbeytown limestone, freshwater limestone, chalk and Connemara marble) has been studied using the channel flow cell method. For the first three of these the dissolution rate was found to be first order with respect to the surface concentration of H⁺ at the solid/liquid interface and the following heterogeneous rate constants were measured: 0.099 cm s^–1(Carrera marble); 0.039 cm s^–1(Portland Stone); 4.5 × 10^–3 cm s^–1(Abbeytown limestone). In contrast, the reaction of freshwater limestone and chalk with H⁺ was found to be mass transport controlled, whereas Connemara marble was too heterogeneous for meaningful results to be obtained. Chemical analyses of all the rock specimens studied are reported.