Abstract
Biofilms growth in porous media can significantly reduce permeability, influencing subsurface flow and transport processes relevant to groundwater remediation, waste containment, and enhanced oil recovery. This study investigates biofilm development under radial flow conditions using custom-designed microfluidic chips. The chip design was simplified by incorporating axisymmetric...
Biofilms are sediment-attached microbial communities that fuel numerous reactions in groundwater. Biofilm clogging of pores, or bioclogging, instigates dynamic feedbacks between fluid transport, oxygen demand, and microbial growth and decay that are poorly understood. Here, we present results from microfluidic experiments to demonstrate that these feedbacks are controlled by the hydraulic...
Geothermal power is a promising technology for producing heat and electricity, supporting global decarbonisation efforts. However, this technology can be affected by several operational problems that reduce both profitability and long-term operability. Among them, the development of biofilms in pipes and porosity of reservoir rocks, known as bioclogging, accounts for almost 15% of injectivity...
Microplastics are ubiquitous contaminants where particle sizes are < 5 mm. They are easily mobilized and transported from terrestrial to aquatic environments via storm and surface water runoff and are consequently found globally in diverse ecosystems. In the effort to reduce microplastic transport, biofilms offer a promising solution. This work presents the first steps in integrating biofilms...
A significant barrier to underground hydrogen storage is that hydrogen serves as an excellent electron donor for many microbial metabolisms, leading to its consumption and contamination. Recent studies have shown that the hydrogen consumption rate can be accelerated by adding solid particles, such as pure quartz grains, into the bulk solution, indicating that solid phases can enhance microbial...
Hydrogen storage in salt caverns offers a promising solution for large-scale energy storage; however, biogeochemical reactions involving hydrogen, minerals, and microbial communities can compromise hydrogen quality. The Salado Formation, a salt cavern located in west Texas and southeastern New Mexico, is composed of evaporites such as halite and interbedded potash salts like polyhalite,...
Biofilms, aggregates of microbes encased in extracellular polymeric substances, are intricate systems where various chemical, biological, and physical processes occur, including attachment, growth, erosion, sloughing, and metabolite formation. Underground hydrogen storage (UHS) offers large-scale energy retention solutions using salt caverns, depleted hydrocarbon reservoirs, and saline...
The recovery efficiency of short- and long-term cyclic operations of porous media underground hydrogen storage (UHS) is a key parameter for successful implementation, but anaerobic microbes autochthonous in the storage formation can consume hydrogen and adversely influence hydrogen recoverability and storage efficiency. Here we have experimentally measured hydrogen consumption rates by a model...
Karst landscapes, comprising ~20% of the Earth's ice-free land surface, are geological terrains characterized by topographical features resulting from the dissolution of soluble rocks, primarily carbonates. These dissolution features, such as sinkholes and conduits, facilitate the interaction between surface water and groundwater, making the hydrological and biogeochemical characteristics of...
It is now well known that we live in a microorganism’s world. Indeed, microorganisms are everywhere on earth including in unsuspected places such as the troposphere, deep frozen lakes, deep aquifers, pristine media or highly aggressive environments with extreme pH, temperatures, toxic elements concentrations... This means that they are capable of moving or being mobilised through almost all...
Chemotaxis enables microbes to navigate nutrient gradients, playing a critical role in nutrient cycling, soil respiration, and the fate of contaminants in the subsurface. While understanding microbial interactions with nutrients and contaminants is essential, the influence of bacterial chemotaxis—particularly in relation to fluid flow—remains insufficiently explored.
This study investigates...
Subsurface microbial communities play critical roles in the attenuation of anthropogenic contaminants, as well as global biogeochemical cycling [1]. It has been established that physiological state (whether the organism is sediment-attached or planktonic) may drastically affect metabolic activity levels and rate of bio-degradation [2]. However, due to inherent sampling challenges, accurate...
