Conveners
MS04: 2.2
- Eike Thaysen (CSIC)
- David Landa Marbán (NORCE Norwegian Research Centre)
MS04: 2.3
- Na LIU (University of Bergen)
- David Landa Marbán (NORCE Norwegian Research Centre)
MS04: 3.3
- Chaojie Cheng (KIT - Karlsruhe Institute of Technology)
- Na LIU (University of Bergen)
The underground storage of hydrogen (H$_{2}$) in porous rock formations offers a possibility for large-scale energy storage. However, hydrogenotrophic microorganisms can oxidize hydrogen through various metabolic processes e.g. sulfate or iron reduction, methanogenesis or acetogenesis. Since microorganisms can occur naturally or may be introduced through operational processes at the storage...
Microfluidic chips are increasingly used to study microbial processes at the pore scale due to their optical accessibility, low cost, and experimental controllability. However, the diversity of available microfluidic platforms raises critical questions regarding their suitability for investigating anaerobic microbial reactions relevant to subsurface energy storage. In this study, we...
Hydrogen-consuming microbial metabolisms are gaining increasing attention in the context of underground hydrogen storage (UHS), because hydrogen is a universal electron donor for a wide range of subsurface microorganisms. These processes can cause hydrogen loss and generate unwanted by-products, thereby compromising gas quality and storage integrity. Robust site assessment therefore requires a...
Underground hydrogen storage (UHS) in deep geological reservoirs is a promising technology for large-scale renewable energy storage. Hydrogen injection into the subsurface alters the chemical potential, resulting in a reducing environment that may trigger geochemical and microbial reactivity. This can lead to hydrogen conversion and loss, introduction of impurities, and pore clogging,...
Underground hydrogen storage (UHS) in porous geological formations represents a promising solution for large-scale energy buffering in renewable-based energy systems. However, interactions between injected hydrogen (H₂) and the subsurface environment can significantly influence storage integrity and efficiency through coupled biogeochemical processes involving native microorganisms.
H₂ acts...
Underground hydrogen storage (UHS) represents a promising solution for the temporal balancing of energy supply and demand in energy systems increasingly based on renewable sources. Suitable geological storage formations include both water-saturated porous media (aquifers) as well as former hydrocarbon reservoirs such as depleted gas or oil fields. For the planning, development, and operation...
The European pursuit of a net-zero economy is increasingly defined by two parallel challenges: (1) the urgent mandate to mitigate energy-related greenhouse gas emissions and (2) the necessity of managing the inherent volatility of renewable energy sources. As weather-dependent power production expands, the resulting temporal mismatches between energy supply and consumer demand require the...
Biomass pyrolysis involves strongly coupled structural evolution and transport processes that govern heat and mass transfer, yet these processes remain insufficiently understood at the pore scale. In particular, the roles of pore-scale anisotropy and heterogeneity in controlling gas transport and reaction progression are often neglected in continuum-scale models. In this study, we present an...
Biofilm formation in porous media plays a central role in controlling flow, transport, and biogeochemical processes in natural and engineered systems, including groundwater environments, wastewater treatment, water quality management, and geological gas storage. In this contribution, we present recent advances in pore-scale modeling that elucidate how biofilm dynamics and structure jointly...
Microbial mineralization is a novel bioremediation and consolidation technology. However, its mineralization process is influenced by a variety of complex factors (such as microbial species, urea concentration, and the evolution and distribution of pore vortex structures) at the pore scale, presenting highly nonlinear characteristics and a certain degree of uncertainty in distribution and...
The exploitation of microbial metabolisms for bio-catalysis generally provides sustainable ways of producing renewable polymers. Bioreactors, employing biofilms, are expected to gain in competitiveness and efficiency compared to traditional fermenters. Biofilms are microbial communities embedded in self-produced extracellular polymer substances (EPS) that contain mostly polysaccharides...
Biofilms are nearly ubiquitous in both natural and engineered subsurface systems, with relevance to processes ranging from groundwater contamination to thief zone remediation. The interaction between biofilms and permeable media is well-understood to be bidirectional: just as biofilm accumulation is mediated by both mass transport considerations and the physical stresses associated with fluid...
The wide variety of microbial processes provides a flexible biotechnological platform for polymer production. In this study, Azotobacter vinelandii is used to produce the polysaccharide alginate. Alginate is used in the food industry and has many medical applications. It consists of two linearly linked co-polymers: α-L-guluronic acid and (1-4)-β-D-mannuronic acid. The properties of alginate...
In many contexts, microbial reactions are studied in batch-type reactors to identify conditions necessary for active microbial metabolism and to determine reaction rates or kinetics of selected reactions. One example is the microbial oxidation of hydrogen (e.g. Dohrmann & Krüger, 2023; Dopffel et al 2023) in the context of subsurface storage of hydrogen as energy carrier.
Within batch-type...
Microbial induced carbonate precipitation (MICP) using Sporosarcina pasteurii has promising applications in soil stabilization and sustainable construction materials. MICP applications typically rely on freshly cultivated bacteria, although their storage stability is limited, as both urease activity and biomass decline within weeks (Erdmann et al. 2022; Mehring et al. 2021). The drying of...
The use of mixed recycled aggregates (RMA) for concrete is limited according to current German standards (DIN 1045-2). The coarse natural aggregate is only allowed to be replaced proportionally. RMAs contain a high amount of brick material, which results in high porosity and water absorption properties. This primarily influences the consistency of fresh concrete. If recycled aggregate consists...
Bioclogging is a process that result from the separation of biological particles from a fluid by a membrane; it has many environmental and sanitary applications. It results in a reactive porous medium with emerging properties: cells are deformable, can proliferate, consume nutrients and oxygen, and die. These specific features affect the structure and behavior of the porous medium. The...
