Modelling and simulation of real-life problems involve the very real dilemma of having to incorporate crucial mathematical structure that is locked within other disciples. An example of a particularly pervasive process is the carbonate chemical system, being responsible for ocean acidification due to green house gases, limestone cave formation, degradation of monuments and even arterial blood gas makeup. A problem from the oil and gas industry concerning the reproducibility of the characterization of carbonate rock formations forms the backdrop for an application of this chemical system. The analysis of the resulting reaction-diffusion-advection system of equations that describe the experimental process benefits in two distinct ways: 1) it provides the form of the reaction terms and 2) it infers a natural rescaling of the chemical species. This second point results in an asymptotic analysis that is uniformly applicable across the complete chemical reactivity of the process. An explanation is offered for the variability in the observed experiments and other future problems are posed that capitalize on these new insights.