Presentation materials
Biofilms, surface-attached bacterial communities, are abundant in many environmental and industrial porous media such as soils or filters. Fluid flow through the porous medium affects the biofilm development through shear stress and nutrient supply while in turn the biofilm affects the fluid flow. This interplay can lead to the formation of preferential flow paths (PFPs) through the...
In soil ecology, as well as in environmental and industrial applications such as bioremediation and filters, it is of growing importance to understand the interplay between biogeochemical processes and hydrodynamics in porous media. In the latter, microorganisms can form surface-attached communities, known as biofilms. Biofilms lead to bio-clogged pores, which causes modified pore geometries,...
Bacteria colonize almost every habitat, including porous media such as rocks, sediments and soils. They are usually attached to the surface and agglomerated in biofilms. The location, extent and composition of the biofilm depend on the environmental conditions and chemical and physical characteristics of the material (Miller et al., 2012). They affect the material properties and influence...
Biofilms are complex microbial communities that grow primarily on solid surfaces where the microorganisms are nested in a self-secreted polymer matrix. Recent experimental studies have aimed at understanding the mechanisms that control the development of biofilms in porous media, including architectural plasticity [1], ecological interactions in connected structures [2] or bio-clogging [3]....
Bacterial biofilms are amongst the most successful modes of life in the terrestrial environment and ubiquitous within porous systems, such as soils and membrane interfaces (1). The bacteria within a biofilm are bound together by self-secreted extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), yielding a natural gel-like structure (2). EPS provides a protective shield and structural architecture to...
Apart from the bacterial instrumentalization for EOR processes, aspiration in utilizing anaerobe archaea representatives for renewable methane synthesis in geological formation exists. In a previous study, the investigation of biomass accumulation in pore-space under saturated flow conditions has shown that bacteria exert a significant change in the hydraulic properties of porous media...
Microbial-induced calcite precipitation (MICP) has been regarded as a promising bio-grouting technique for soil stabilization, remediation of concrete and subsurface rocks, wellbore sealing, among others. One of the most extensively utilized bacteria for MICP is Sporoscarcina pasteurii (S. pasteurii), which enables to catalyze the hydrolysis of urea to carbonate and ammonia via the production...
In large-scale geological storage of CO2 one of the key factors for effective storage capacity is how much one can inject before reaching critical pressure build-ups. If potential leakage paths in the caprock experience pressure value beyond their critical threshold, sequestrated CO2 might leak out of the storage site. Several sealing technologies have been suggested to close leakage paths in...
Microbially-Induced Calcium Carbonate (CaCO3) precipitation (MICP) has a great potential for soil improvement of granular soils as a more environmentally friendly alternative to traditional grouting technologies. The application of MICP in real geotechnical problems requires better engineering control of the spatiotemporal evolution of MICP. Moreover, the optimization of chemical reaction...
