American Journal of Environmental Protection 2015; 4(3): 127-133 Published online April 27, 2015 (http://www.sciencepublishinggroup.com/j/ajep) doi: 10.11648/j.ajep.20150403.13 ISSN: 2328-5680 (Print); ISSN: 2328-5699 (Online) Simulation of Potassium Transport in Carbonate Aquifer Omar Chaalal 1 , Ahmed Murad 2 , Ahmed M. Soliman 3 , Rafiq Islam 5 , Ismail A. El Haty 3 , D. Hank 4 1 Chemical and Petroleum Engineering Department, College of Engineering, United Arab Emirates University, Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates 2 Geology Department, College of Science, United Arab Emirates University, Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates 3 Chemistry Department, College of Science, United Arab Emirates University, Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates 4 Nuclear Fuel Technology Department, Hot Labs. Centre, Atomic Energy Authority., Cairo, Egypt 5 National Polytechnic School of Algiers, Algeria Email address: omar.chaalal@uaeu.ac.ae (O. Chaalal), ahmed.murad@uaeu.ac.ae (A. Murad), a.soliman@uaeu.ac.ae (A. M. Soliman), ismailelhaty@uaeu.ac.ae (I. A. El Haty), d.Hank@hotmail.com (D. Hank) To cite this article: Omar Chaalal, Ahmed Murad, Ahmed M. Soliman, Rafiq Islam, Ismail A. El Haty, D. Hank. Simulation of Potassium Transport in Carbonate Aquifer. American Journal of Environmental Protection. Vol. 4, No. 3, 2015, pp. 127-133. doi: 10.11648/j.ajep.20150403.13 Abstract: Sophisticated prediction of aquifer performance requires numerical simulation. To date, no comprehensive simulation has been reported on groundwater modeling. Most available simulators are not applicable for fractured aquifer, and do not account for contaminant leaching and degradation, particularly in the vadose zone. Consequently, studying contaminant transport in a fractured or vuggy formation offers a forthidable challenge. This paper addresses the problem of contaminant transport in carbonate aquifer, in the presence of fractures. Most of aquifers in UAE are of limestone or carbonate origins. A series of experiments was conducted using potassium nitrate as the contaminant. Dynamic adsorption and desorption tests were carried out using both homogeneous and fractured formation models. Initial modeling and experiments were carried out for a range of initial concentration values. The concentration at the outlet was measured with the Flame Ionization technique. A numerical model was developed using the surface excess theory, combined with a non-Fickian dispersion coefficient. Numerical results agreed favorably with experimental results. It was found that the non-Fickian model was necessary for modeling fracture flow results and with this version, there was no need to use the dual porosity/dual permeability formulation. Strong dependence of adsorption on initial concentration was observed and was justified with the numerical model. Keywords: Carbonate Aquifer, Modling, A non-Fickian Dispersion Coefficient, Potassium Nitrate, Dual Porosity and Numerical Simulation 1. Introduction In the past three decades, fractured rock domains have received increasing attention by the researchers from a number of disciplines, including hydrogeology, petroleum engineering, and environmental engineering. The importance of fractures is particularly enhanced when one deals with carbonate formations, both in water flow and petroleum production, because most of these formations are known to be fractured. The subject has been investigated by the petroleum engineers in connection with multiphase flow, because many important petroleum reservoirs are in fractured rock formations. Of special interest are reservoirs composed of fractured porous rocks in which the matrix blocks, surrounded by the network of fractures are porous. The permeability of such blocks are often rather low, but the porosity and, hence, the storage capacity for fluids are very high. Environmental engineers have been investigating the problem in connection with geological isolation of radioactive waste and remediation of ground water. Hydrologists deal with fractured formations because numerous deep aquifers are fractured. Chemical engineers mainly deal with chemical transport in limestone, but not necessarily in its fractured form (Arsic et al., 1991; Couturier et al., 1993). In Canada, Switzerland, and Sweden large national research programs are underway to study radio-nuclide transport in crystalline rocks. Finland also intends to site their repository in similar rocks and has a research program directed toward this end. Other countries, including Japan, France, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the USA have or