Colloidal Transport of Heavy Metals in Natural Subsurface Sediments

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sema Sevinc Sengor
Keyword(s):  
Heavy Metals ◽  
Reactive Transport ◽  
Environmental Remediation ◽  
Transport Model ◽  
Transport Processes ◽  
Subsurface Water ◽  
Colloidal Transport ◽  
Subsurface Sediments ◽  
Oxide Minerals ◽  
The Impact

<p>Colloid particles are widely distributed in the environment. These colloids have recently been gaining significant attention due to their unique characteristics in environmental remediation pertaining to degradation, transformation and immobilization of contaminants in soils and aquifers. On the other hand, once mobilized by subsurface water flow, colloids may pose risks to surface water and groundwater quality as they are effective ‘‘carriers’’ of a variety of common contaminants found in water and soils. Therefore, understanding the transport mechanisms of the colloids and incorporation of colloidal transport processes in reactive transport models are crucial for successful applications of many remediation efforts in the subsurface. Fe (hydr)oxide colloidal compounds have large surface areas and high reactivity, which can lead to spontaneous adsorption of many pollutants. For the successful stabilization of pollutants, it is vital to understand the associated biogeochemical processes, and competitive effects of contaminant sorption onto these colloidal phases. This work focuses on the development of a mechanistic Fe(hydr)oxide based colloid-facilitated reactive transport model which identifies the impact of Fe(hydr)oxide colloids on the stability and mobility of heavy metals (Zn and Pb) in example<strong> </strong>subsurface sediments of Lake Coeur d’Alene (LCdA), USA. Key reactions include the mobilization of heavy metals initially sorbed onto the colloidal Fe(hydr)oxide minerals through microbial reductive dissolution. Precipitation of metal sulfides at depth as a result of biogenic sulfide production is also captured. The simulations compare the biogeochemical cycling of metals considering colloidal vs. immobile phases of Fe(hydr)oxide minerals in the lake sediments.</p>

Investigation of Underground Bio-Methanation Using Bio-Reactive Transport Modeling

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denis Sergeevich Nikolaev ◽  
Nazika Moeininia ◽  
Holger Ott ◽  
Hagen Bueltemeier
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Reactive Transport ◽  
Transport Model ◽  
Porous Media Flow ◽  
Potential Candidate ◽  
Field Scale ◽  
Reactive Transport Model ◽  
Demand Fluctuations ◽  
Gas Fields ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Underground bio-methanation is a promising technology for large-scale renewable energy storage. Additionally, it enables the recycling of CO2 via the generation of "renewable methane" in porous reservoirs using in-situ microbes as bio-catalysts. Potential candidate reservoirs are depleted gas fields or even abandoned gas storages, providing enormous storage capacity to balance seasonal energy supply and demand fluctuations. This paper discusses the underlying bio-methanation process as part of the ongoing research project "Bio-UGS – Biological conversion of carbon dioxide and hydrogen to methane," funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). First, the hydrodynamic processes are assessed, and a review of the related microbial processes is provided. Then, based on exemplary field-scale simulations, the bio-reactive transport process and its consequences for operation are evaluated. The hydrogen conversion process was investigated by numerical simulations on field scale. For this, a two-phase multi-component bio-reactive transport model was implemented by (Hagemann 2018) in the open-source DuMux (Flemisch et al. 2011) simulation toolkit for porous media flow. The underlying processes include the transport of reactants and products, consumption of specific components, and the related growth and decay of the microbial population, resulting in a bio-reactive transport model. The microbial kinetic parameters of methanogenic reactions are taken from the available literature. The simulation study covers different scenarios on conceptional field-scale models, studying the impact of well placement, injection rates, and gas compositions. Due to a significant sensitivity of the simulation results to the bio-conversion kinetics, the field-specific conversion rates must be obtained. Thus, the Bio-UGS project is accompanied by laboratory experiments out of the frame of this paper. Other parameters are rather a matter of design; in the present case of depleted gas fields, those parameters are coupled and can be chosen to convert fully hydrogen and carbon dioxide to methane. Especially the well spacing can be considered the main design parameter in the likely case of a given injection rate and gas composition. This study extends the application of the previously developed code from a homogeneous-2D to the heterogeneous-3D case. The simulations mimic the co-injection of carbon dioxide and hydrogen from a 40 MW electrolysis.

Multicomponent multiphase reactive fluid flow in viscoelastoplastic porous media: localization patterns of fluid flow and strain

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lyudmila Khakimova ◽  
Nikolai Belov ◽  
Artyom Myasnikov ◽  
Anatoly Vershinin ◽  
Kirill Krapivin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fluid Flow ◽  
Reactive Transport ◽  
Transport Model ◽  
Shear Bands ◽  
Porous Matrix ◽  
Deformation Localization ◽  
Linear Free Energy ◽  
Constrained Minimization Problem ◽  
Spectral Finite Elements ◽  
The Impact

<p>This work is devoted to developing the self-consistent thermo-hydro-chemo-mechanical reactive transport model to predict and describe natural and industrial petroleum processes at different scales.</p><p>We develop a version of the front tracking approach for multicomponent multiphase flow in order to treat spontaneous splitting of discontinuities. We revisit the solution for the Riemann problem and systematically classify all possible configurations as functions of initial concentrations on both sides of the discontinuity. We validate the algorithm against finite volume high-resolution technics and high-order spectral finite elements.</p><p>To calculate the parameters of phase equilibria, we utilize an approach based on the direct minimization of the Gibbs energy of a multicomponent mixture. This method ensures the consistency of the thermodynamic lookup tables. The core of the algorithm is the non-linear free-energy constrained minimization problem, formulated in the form of a linear programming problem by discretization in compositional space.</p><p>The impact of the complex rheological response of porous matrix on the morphology of fluid flow and shear deformation localization is considered. Channeling of porosity waves and shear bands morphology and their orientation is investigated for viscoelastoplastic both shear and bulk rheologies.</p>

scholarly journals BioRT-Flux-PIHM v1.0: a watershed biogeochemical reactive transport model

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Zhi ◽  
Yuning Shi ◽  
Hang Wen ◽  
Leila Saberi ◽  
Gene-Hua Crystal Ng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Deep Water ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Reactive Transport ◽  
Transport Model ◽  
Transport Processes ◽  
Spatially Explicit ◽  
Watershed Scale ◽  
Nitrogen And Phosphorus ◽  
Reactive Transport Model ◽  
Component Representation

Abstract. Watersheds are the fundamental Earth surface functioning unit that connects the land to aquatic systems. Existing watershed-scale models typically have physics-based representation of hydrology process but often lack mechanism-based, multi-component representation of reaction thermodynamics and kinetics. This lack of watershed reactive transport models has limited our ability to understand and predict solute export and water quality, particularly under changing climate and anthropogenic conditions. Here we present a recently developed BioRT-Flux-PIHM (BFP) v1.0, a watershed-scale biogeochemical reactive transport model. Augmenting the previously developed RT-Flux-PIHM that integrates land-surface interactions, surface hydrology, and abiotic geochemical reactions (Bao et al., 2017, WRR), the new development enables the simulation of 1) biotic processes including plant uptake and microbe-mediated biogeochemical reactions that are relevant to the transformation of organic matter that involve carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus; and 2) shallow and deep water partitioning to represent surface and groundwater interactions. The reactive transport part of the code has been verified against the widely used reactive transport code CrunchTope. BioRT-Flux-PIHM v1.0 has recently been applied to understand reactive transport processes in multiple watersheds across different climate, vegetation, and geology conditions. This paper introduces the governing equations and model structure of the code. It also demonstrates examples that simulate shallow and deep water interactions, and biogeochemical reactive transport relevant to nitrate and dissolved organic carbon (DOC). These examples were illustrated in two simulation modes of varying complexity. One is the spatially implicit mode that focuses on processes and average behavior of a watershed. Another is in a spatially explicit mode that includes details of topography, land cover, and soil property conditions. The spatially explicit mode can be used to understand the impacts of spatial structure and identify hot spots of biogeochemical reactions.

Impact of chaotic mixing on reactive transport: experiment in porous media at high Pe and Da

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hugo Sanquer ◽  
Joris Heyman ◽  
Tanguy Le Borgne ◽  
Khalil Hanna
Keyword(s):  
Porous Media ◽  
Reactive Transport ◽  
3D Imaging ◽  
Fluid Phase ◽  
Reaction Rates ◽  
Transport Processes ◽  
Chaotic Mixing ◽  
Pore Scale ◽  
Chemical Gradients ◽  
The Impact

<p>Solute transport in porous media plays a key role in a range of chemical and biological processes, including contaminant degradation, precipitation, dissolution and microbiological dynamics. Increasing evidences have shown that the conventional complete mixing assumption at the pore scale can lead to a strong overestimation of reaction rates. Recent 3D imaging experiments of mixing in porous media suggest that these pore scale chemical gradients may be sustained by chaotic mixing dynamics. However, the consequences of such chaotic mixing on reactive processes are unknown.</p><p>In this work, we use reactive transport experiments coupled to 3D imaging to investigate the impact of micro-scale chaotic flows on mixing-limited reactions in the fluid phase.  We use optical index matching and laser-induced fluorescence to characterize the pore scale distribution of reactive product concentration for a range of Peclet and Damkhöler numbers. We use these measurements to develop a reactive lamellar theory that quantifies the impact of pore scale chemical gradients induced by chaotic mixing on effective reaction rates. These results provide new perspectives for upscaling reactive transport processes in porous media.</p>

scholarly journals Reactive transport model of kinetically controlled celestite to barite replacement

2021 ◽  
Vol 56 ◽  
pp. 57-65
Author(s):  
Morgan Tranter ◽  
Maria Wetzel ◽  
Marco De Lucia ◽  
Michael Kühn
Keyword(s):  
Reactive Transport ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Prediction Models ◽  
Transport Model ◽  
Solid Phase ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Dissolution Kinetics ◽  
Input Concentration ◽  
Geochemical Model ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. Barite formation is of concern for many utilisations of the geological subsurface, ranging from oil and gas extraction to geothermal reservoirs. It also acts as a scavenger mineral for the retention of radium within nuclear waste repositories. The impact of its precipitation on flow properties has been shown to vary by many orders of magnitude, emphasising the need for robust prediction models. An experimental flow-through column setup on the laboratory scale investigating the replacement of celestite (SrSO4) with barite (BaSO4) for various input barium concentrations was taken as a basis for modelling. We provide here a comprehensive, geochemical modelling approach to simulate the experiments. Celestite dissolution kinetics, as well as subsequent barite nucleation and crystal growth were identified as the most relevant reactive processes, which were included explicitly in the coupling. A digital rock representation of the granular sample was used to derive the initial inner surface area. Medium (10 mM) and high (100 mM) barium input concentration resulted in a comparably strong initial surge of barite nuclei formation, followed by continuous grain overgrowth and finally passivation of celestite. At lower input concentrations (1 mM), nuclei formation was significantly less, resulting in fewer but larger barite crystals and a slow moving reaction front with complete mineral replacement. The modelled mole fractions of the solid phase and effluent chemistry match well with previous experimental results. The improvement compared to models using empirical relationships is that no a-priori knowledge on prevailing supersaturations in the system is needed. For subsurface applications utilising reservoirs or reactive barriers, where barite precipitation plays a role, the developed geochemical model is of great benefit as only solute concentrations are needed as input for quantified prediction of alterations.

scholarly journals A Review of the Petroleum Hydrocarbons Contamination of Soil, Water and Air and the Available Remediation Techniques, Taking into Consideration the Sustainable Development Goals

2022 ◽  
pp. 97-113
Author(s):  
Adeoye Ademola Elijah
Keyword(s):  
Heavy Metals ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Crude Oil ◽  
Environmental Remediation ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Complex Mixture ◽  
Hydrocarbon Contamination ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
The Impact

The emergence of several industrial activities has arguably led to hydrocarbon contamination of all aspects of the environment. The resultant effect of the increased dependence on crude oil is the hydrocarbon pollution via the exploration, transport and waste disposal. Crude oil is a complex mixture of aliphatic, aromatic and heterocyclic compounds. The impact of the crude oil spills, pesticides, fossil fuels and other organic pollutants, which majorly contains these hydrocarbons is that the natural heavy metal content of the soil is drastically rising, resulting in high concentration of heavy metals, thereby limiting the microbe’s activity, rendering it unsuitable for degradation and reduced effectiveness. This menace has hereby brought the dire need for adequate environmental remediation technique, putting into consideration the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs’). Variety of techniques exist for remediation depending on the media (e.g. air, water, or soil) and contaminant (e.g. heavy metals, PCB etc.). Some of the techniques adopted in the last several decades are physical/mechanical, chemical or biochemical remediation methods.

scholarly journals Modeling the impact of soil aggregate size on selenium immobilization

2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 1323-1336 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. F. Kausch ◽  
C. E. Pallud
Keyword(s):  
Reactive Transport ◽  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
Transport Model ◽  
Soil Aggregates ◽  
Aggregate Size ◽  
Soil Aggregate ◽  
Drainage Water ◽  
Rate Equations ◽  
Advective Transport ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. Soil aggregates are mm- to cm-sized microporous structures separated by macropores. Whereas fast advective transport prevails in macropores, advection is inhibited by the low permeability of intra-aggregate micropores. This can lead to mass transfer limitations and the formation of aggregate scale concentration gradients affecting the distribution and transport of redox sensitive elements. Selenium (Se) mobilized through irrigation of seleniferous soils has emerged as a major aquatic contaminant. In the absence of oxygen, the bioavailable oxyanions selenate, Se(VI), and selenite, Se(IV), can be microbially reduced to solid, elemental Se, Se(0), and anoxic microzones within soil aggregates are thought to promote this process in otherwise well-aerated soils. To evaluate the impact of soil aggregate size on selenium retention, we developed a dynamic 2-D reactive transport model of selenium cycling in a single idealized aggregate surrounded by a macropore. The model was developed based on flow-through-reactor experiments involving artificial soil aggregates (diameter: 2.5 cm) made of sand and containing Enterobacter cloacae SLD1a-1 that reduces Se(VI) via Se(IV) to Se(0). Aggregates were surrounded by a constant flow providing Se(VI) and pyruvate under oxic or anoxic conditions. In the model, reactions were implemented with double-Monod rate equations coupled to the transport of pyruvate, O2, and Se species. The spatial and temporal dynamics of the model were validated with data from experiments, and predictive simulations were performed covering aggregate sizes 1–2.5 cm in diameter. Simulations predict that selenium retention scales with aggregate size. Depending on O2, Se(VI), and pyruvate concentrations, selenium retention was 4–23 times higher in 2.5 cm aggregates compared to 1 cm aggregates. Under oxic conditions, aggregate size and pyruvate concentrations were found to have a positive synergistic effect on selenium retention. Promoting soil aggregation on seleniferous agricultural soils, through organic matter amendments and conservation tillage, may thus help decrease the impacts of selenium contaminated drainage water on downstream aquatic ecosystems.

scholarly journals Modeling the impact of soil aggregate size on selenium immobilization

2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 12047-12086 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. F. Kausch ◽  
C. E. Pallud
Keyword(s):  
Reactive Transport ◽  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
Transport Model ◽  
Soil Aggregates ◽  
Aggregate Size ◽  
Soil Aggregate ◽  
Drainage Water ◽  
Rate Equations ◽  
Advective Transport ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. Soil aggregates are mm- to cm-sized microporous structures separated by macropores. Whereas fast advective transport prevails in macropores, advection is inhibited by the low permeability of intra-aggregate micropores. This can lead to mass transfer limitations and the formation of aggregate-scale concentration gradients affecting the distribution and transport of redox sensitive elements. Selenium (Se) mobilized through irrigation of seleniferous soils has emerged as a major aquatic contaminant. In the absence of oxygen, the bioavailable oxyanions selenate, Se(VI), and selenite, Se(IV), can be microbially reduced to solid, elemental Se, Se(0), and anoxic microzones within soil aggregates are thought to promote this process in otherwise well aerated soils. To evaluate the impact of soil aggregate size on selenium retention, we developed a dynamic 2-D reactive transport model of selenium cycling in a single idealized aggregate surrounded by a macropore. The model was developed based on flow-through-reactor experiments involving artificial soil aggregates (diameter: 2.5 cm) made of sand and containing Enterobacter cloacae SLD1a-1 that reduces Se(VI) via Se(IV) to Se(0). Aggregates were surrounded by a constant flow providing Se(VI) and pyruvate under oxic or anoxic conditions. In the model, reactions were implemented with double-Monod rate equations coupled to the transport of pyruvate, O2, and Se-species. The spatial and temporal dynamics of the model were validated with data from experiments and predictive simulations were performed covering aggregate sizes between 1 and 2.5 cm diameter. Simulations predict that selenium retention scales with aggregate size. Depending on O2, Se(VI), and pyruvate concentrations, selenium retention was 4–23 times higher in 2.5-cm-aggregates compared to 1-cm-aggregates. Under oxic conditions, aggregate size and pyruvate-concentrations were found to have a positive synergistic effect on selenium retention. Promoting soil aggregation on seleniferous agricultural soils, through organic matter amendments and conservation tillage, may thus help decrease the impacts of selenium contaminated drainage water on downstream aquatic ecosystems.

Numerical assessment of chemical species infiltration in the Prosecco area

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonardo Costa ◽  
Stefano Mazzega Ciamp ◽  
Alessandra Cardinali ◽  
Laura Carretta ◽  
Nicola Dal Ferro ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Field Experiments ◽  
Transport Model ◽  
Root Zone ◽  
Chemical Species ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Laboratory Analysis ◽  
Subsurface Water ◽  
Human Consumption ◽  
North East ◽  
The Impact

<p>The multidisciplinary research project SWAT - Subsurface Water quality and Agricultural pracTices monitoring - has been set up to assess pesticides contamination risks for groundwater in the hills of Prosecco in the north-east of Italy. The unconfined aquifer underneath the typical Glera grape-variety vineyards of Valdobbiadene and Conegliano is used as water supply resource for human consumption. The principal aim of the project SWAT is to obtain a thorough information on the impact of contaminants coming from agricultural practices and infiltrating in the soil of well protection areas. Based on specifically designed field experiments, a study on water and solutes infiltration process is developed to understand the movement and evolution of chemical species in the vadose zone. A one-dimensional transport model for unsaturated media (BRTSim - Maggi, 2015) is used to simulate solute infiltration and estimate the soil hydraulic parameters. Monitoring activities started in November 2018 in two experimental sites (the Settolo site in Valdobbiadene and the Colnù site in Conegliano) near supply wells surrounded by vineyards. A mixture of Bromide and Glyphosate was identically applied on two parcels of 25 m<sup>2</sup> for each experimental site to obtain information about spatial heterogeneity and to collect independently water and soil quality measurements. Porous cups, for the collection of infiltrating water, and capacitive sensors, to gauge temperature and Volumetric Water Content (VWC), were installed beneath the sectors at three depths (-0.1, -0.3, -0.7 m). In each site meteorological station provides hydrological data. At first, laboratory analysis on soil samples collected at the same depths gave a vertical distribution of the sector-specific soil texture that was used as input for Rosetta to obtain initial estimations of retention curve behaviour and the saturated hydraulic conductivity. These data allowed us to develop an open-loop simulation using the early meteorological observations as hydrological forcing. As the laboratory analysis on soil and water samples proceed and the number of in-situ measurements increases, different data windows are tested to improve the performances of the calibration procedure performed using PEST. In all tests a spin-up procedure is applied to mitigate the dependency of the results on the imposed initial data by repeating the first month of hydrological forcing three times. The results of the transport model using Rosetta parameters are already satisfactory in terms of VWC trends even if they are considerably shifted respect to the measured values. The calibration reduces the gap between model results and observations, but the behaviour seems to get worse in dry conditions. Improvements are achieved in the upper layer (-0.3 m) applying evapotranspiration along the root zone. The Bromide simulations agree with the infiltration behaviour: its movement is well represented up to -0.3 m, while at -0.7 m the observed values are overestimated. Ongoing investigations on the glyphosate dispersion process show limited infiltrating mass in the water collected samples.</p>

The influence of bottom water intrusion events on the biogeochemistry of a coastal fjord

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Subhadeep Rakshit ◽  
Andrew Cogswell ◽  
Sebastian Haas ◽  
Emmanuel Devred ◽  
Richard Davis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Reactive Transport ◽  
Bottom Water ◽  
Water Exchange ◽  
Transport Model ◽  
Biogeochemical Processes ◽  
Low Oxygen ◽  
Eastern Canada ◽  
Oxygen Conditions ◽  
Bottom Waters ◽  
The Impact

<p>Lack of bottom water exchange in fjord-like estuaries can result in low oxygen conditions and creating sites of redox-sensitive biogeochemical processes, such as denitrification. In many of these systems, occasional intrusions of well-oxygenated bottom water may temporarily alter redox gradients and sediment-water biogeochemistry. Quantifying the magnitude and importance of these changes is a challenge due to the short timescales over which these events can occur. Here we present results from Bedford Basin, a 71 m deep coastal fjord in eastern Canada, where a 20-year, weekly timeseries of bottom water conditions indicates that autumn wind-driven intrusion events are a common, but infrequent, feature of its circulation. To examine the impact of these intrusions on biogeochemistry, we deployed a benthic instrument pod at 60 m depth to record high-resolution measurements of temperature, salinity, nitrate, oxygen, and fluorescence over a 4-month period during the fall of 2018.  During this time we captured two intrusion events, one in mid-Oct and another in mid-Nov. Both intrusion events occurred on a timescale of hours and resulted in sharp changes in temperature, salinity, oxygen, and nitrate.  We used these measurements to constrain a coupled sediment-water column reactive transport model to examine the immediate and annual impacts of these intrusion events on oxygen and nitrogen dynamics in the basin bottom waters and across the sediment-water interface.</p>

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