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What does negative H+ concentration mean in TOUGHREACT?
I am running some simuations, the results seem to make sense (including pH). But why does the h+ concentrations are negative? Is there a special calculation to convert h+ to pH?
2 replies
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The TOTAL H+ concentration (numerical balance) is negative in alkaline systems, because the (true) concentration of OH- dominates over the (true) concentration of H+. This is because H+ and H2O are used as primary species, and OH- is used as a derived species (i.e., function of H+ and H2O, with OH- + H+ = H2O) thus with a negative H+ stoichiometric coefficient. Thus the total numerical mole balance (per kg water) for H+ is: totH+ = mH+ - 1 mOH- (m is molality). totH+ is negative when mOH- > mH+. For pure water at neutral pH, mOH- = mH+ and thus totH+ is zero. Note that the actual (true) concentration of any individual species can never be negative (e.g., here, mH+ and mOH- are always positive). See Reed (1982, Geochimica, 46, 513-528) for more details.
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Oh, I see the point now. That also explains the difference between the "Total Aqueous component concentrations" and "Aqueous species concentrations". Thanks!