Geochemistry of mine tailings and behavior of arsenic at Kombat, northeastern Namibia.

The mine tailings at Kombat, in semiarid northeastern Namibia, were investigated by the combination of solid-phase analyses, mineralogical methods, leaching tests, and speciation modeling. Dissolution of the most abundant primary sulfides, chalcopyrite and galena, released copper and lead which were adsorbed onto ferric oxyhydroxides or precipitated in the form of malachite, Cu2CO3(OH)2, and cerussite, PbCO3, respectively. Arsenic released from arsenopyrite was incorporated into ferric oxyhydroxides. Based on sequential extraction and (57)Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy, a large amount of ferric iron is present as low solubility hematite and goethite formed rapidly (<10 years) under warm semiarid climatic conditions, and arsenic in these phases is relatively tightly bound. It seems that Cu and especially Pb in carbonate minerals represent a more serious environmental risk. Immobilization of As in hematite has implications for other mining sites in regions with similar climatic conditions because this process results in long-term immobilization of As.

Aqueous solubility, Henry's law constants and air/water partition coefficients of n-octane and two halogenated octanes.

New data on the aqueous solubility of n-octane, 1-chlorooctane and 1-bromooctane are reported between 1 degree C and 45 degrees C. Henry's law constants, K(H), and air/water partition coefficients, K(AW), were calculated by associating the measured solubility values to vapor pressures taken from literature. The mole fraction aqueous solubility varies between (1.13-1.60)x10(-7) for n-octane with a minimum at approximately 23 degrees C, (3.99-5.07)x10(-7) for 1-chlorooctane increasing monotonically with temperature and (1.60-3.44)x10(-7) for 1-bromooctane with a minimum near 18 degrees C. The calculated air-water partition coefficients increase with temperature and are two orders of magnitude lower for the halogenated derivatives compared to octane. The precision of the results, taken as the average absolute deviations of the aqueous solubility, the Henry's law constants, or the air/water partition coefficients, from appropriate smoothing equations as a function of temperature is of 3% for n-octane and of 2% and 4% for 1-chlorooctane and 1-bromooctane, respectively. A new apparatus based on the dynamic saturation column method was used for the solubility measurements. Test measurements with n-octane indicated the capability of measuring solubilities between 10(-6) and 10(-10) in mole fraction, with an estimated accuracy better than +/-10%. A thorough thermodynamic analysis of converting measured data to air/water partition coefficients is presented.

Volumes of aqueous alcohols, ethers, and ketones to T = 523 K and p = 28 MPa.

Densities of dilute aqueous solutions of isopropanol, 1,5-pentanediol, cyclohexanol, benzyl alcohol, diethyl ether, 1,2-dimethoxyethane, acetone, and 2,5-hexanedione were measured by means of a vibrating-tube flow densimeter at temperatures near T = (302, 373, 423, 473, and 521) K at a pressure of p = 28 MPa. At the lowest and highest temperatures, measurements were also made close to the saturation vapour pressure of water to investigate the effect of pressure on the volumes of solutes. Apparent molar volumes were calculated for each solute and extrapolated to give partial molar volumes at infinite dilution. The variation of the volume with temperature, pressure, and structure of solute is discussed qualitatively, and group contributions are determined at the temperatures of measurements and p = 28 MPa. Several equations proposed in the literature for correlating the partial molar volumes at infinite dilution as a function of state parameters are tested. Parameters of one selected equation are tabulated allowing calculation of the partial molar volumes at infinite dilution at temperatures and pressures up to T = 573 K and p = 40 MPa. respectively.

A study of the stability of alkaline-earth metal complexes with fluoride and chloride ions at various temperatures by potentiometry with ion-selective electrodes.

The complexes of the alkaline earth metals with fluoride and chloride were studied over the temperature range 15-85 degrees . The stability constants of the MX(+) complexes were determined by potentiometry with fluoride and chloride ion-selective electrodes and the appropriate thermodynamic functions (DeltaH(0)(298), DeltaS(0)(298) and DeltaG(0)(298)) were calculated.