A new paper entitled “Pore-Scale Heterogeneities Improve the Degradation of a Self- Inhibiting Substrate: Insights from Reactive Transport Modeling” uses reactive transport modeling to analyze contaminant bioremediation in natural porous media such as soils and groundwater. The model accounts for the potential impact of substrate self-inhibition, that is, when microbial activity becomes inhibited at high concentrations of the contaminant. The results show that pore-scale heterogeneities enhance the bioremediation rate, compared to simulations in a homogeneous porous medium. The paper was published in Environmental Science and Technology. The paper is first-authored by Mehdi Gharasoo, a former Research Associate in ERG. Co-authors include Philippe and German colleagues Martin Elsner and Martin Thullner. The paper can be accessed here: LINK.
Thursday, September 22, 2022