A corrected and extended model of sulfolane thaw release

Abstract

Freeze-induced segregation can generate concentrated early discharge while leaving much of a contaminant inventory unreleased. We correct an inconsistency between activation-dependent release and source depletion in a previously published sulfolane model, then extend the corrected formulation to distinguish solute mobilization from outlet export. With the published parameters and concentration filter retained, correcting the source fluxes increases the illustrative peak from 12.03 to 29.97 wt%, while preferential early enrichment persists. Coupling the corrected sources to a well-mixed receiving pool provides an explicit balance for solute retained in the source, stored in connected liquid, and exported through the outlet. For an illustrative 1.5 h release window, an initial bulk concentration of 10 wt% produces a peak of 31.9 wt%, although only 24.1 % of the initial solute is mobilized and 14.5 % exported by closure. During a source-release pause, continued pool flushing increases export without further source depletion. Restart behavior depends on the prescribed activation history. The earlier experiments supply the physical context; no new experimental measurements are reported. The correction restores consistent source depletion, and the extension quantifies how finite release and liquid storage separate concentration enrichment from contaminant removal.