Contributions of biofilm-induced flow heterogeneities to solute retention and anomalous transport features in porous media

Perez, Lazaro J.; Parashar, Rishi; Plymale, Andrew; Scheibe, Timothy D.

doi:10.1016/j.watres.2021.117896

Contributions of biofilm-induced flow heterogeneities to solute retention and anomalous transport features in porous media

Journal Article · Thu Nov 25 00:00:00 EST 2021 · Water Research

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2021.117896· OSTI ID:1854002

Perez, Lazaro J. ^[1]; Parashar, Rishi ^[2]; Plymale, Andrew ^[3]; Scheibe, Timothy D. ^[3]

Desert Research Inst. (DRI), Reno, NV (United States); Desert Research Institute
Desert Research Inst. (DRI), Reno, NV (United States)
Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

We report that microbial biofilms are ubiquitous within porous media and the dynamics of their growth influence surface and subsurface flow patterns which impacts the physical properties of porous media and large-scale transport of solutes. Here, a two-dimensional pore-scale numerical model was used to evaluate the impact of biofilm-induced flow heterogeneities on conservative transport. Our study integrates experimental biofilm images of Paenibacillus 300A strain in a microfluidic device packed with cylindrical grains in a hexagonal distribution, with mathematical modeling. Biofilm is represented as a synthetic porous structure with locally varying physical properties that honors the impact of biofilm on the porous medium. We find that biofilm plays a major role in shaping the observed conservative transport dynamics by enhancing anomalous characteristics. More specifically, when biofilm is present, the pore structure in our geometry becomes more spatially correlated. We observe intermittent behavior in the Lagrangian velocities that switches between fast transport periods and long trapping events. Our results suggest that intermittency enhances solute spreading in breakthrough curves which exhibit extreme anomalous slope at intermediate times and very marked late solute arrival due to solute retention. The efficiency of solute retention by the biofilm is controlled by a transport regime which can extend the tailing in the concentration breakthrough curves. These results indicate that solute retention by the biofilm exerts a strong control on conservative solute transport at pore-scale, a role that to date has not received enough attention.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Desert Research Inst. (DRI), Reno, NV (United States); Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-76RL01830; SC0019437

OSTI ID:: 1854002

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1836639
OSTI ID: 1861891

Report Number(s):: PNNL-SA-164581

Journal Information:: Water Research, Journal Name: Water Research Vol. 209; ISSN 0043-1354

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
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solute retention

Contributions of biofilm-induced flow heterogeneities to solute retention and anomalous transport features in porous media

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