Migration of salts in the unsaturated zone caused by heating

Heat-transfer phenomena as well as moisture movement in unsaturated soils due to thermal gradients, have been extensively studied during the last four decades. Less attention has been devoted to the transport and redistribution of solutes caused by heating.Solar radiation, radioactive waste repositories, underground energy storage, buried electric cables and steam pipes, disposal of waste heat from power plants are examples of heat sources in the soil.Soil-water properties, such as surface tension, viscosity, density, as well as the equilibrium composition of phases, depend on temperature. Hence, nonuniform heating of a soil partially saturated by saline water has an effect on such processes as water flow under capillary and gravitational forces, evaporation, condensation and diffusion of vapor and transport and precipitation of salts.A mathematical model is presented for the migration of salts in the vadoze zone in the soil under nonisothermal conditions, taking into account the above-mentioned phenomena. The physical assumptions underlying the model are briefly discussed.The study of a particular case shows that under certain conditions, a heat source may attract dissolved salts, and cause their precipitation in the hot area.