Copyright © 2012 Tadeusz Michałowski and Agustin G. Asuero. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

The compact thermodynamic approach to the systems containing calcium, magnesium, and carbonate species is referred to dissolution of dolomite, as an example of nonequilibrium ternary salt when introduced into aqueous media. The study of dolomite is based on all attainable physicochemical knowledge, involved in expressions for equilibrium constants, where the species of the system are interrelated. The species are also involved in charge and concentration balances, considered as constraints put on a closed system, separated from the environment by diathermal walls. The inferences are gained from calculations performed with use of an iterative computer program. The simulated quasistatic processes occurred under isothermal conditions, started at a preassumed pH₀ value of the solution where dolomite was introduced, and are usually involved with formation of other solid phases. None simplifying assumptions in the calculations were made.