Hydrodynamic Changes in Sand due to Biogrowth on Naphthalene and Decane
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 128, Issue 1
Abstract
Biological activity in zones of chemical contamination changes the pore characteristics that control the flow of water and transport of dissolved chemicals in soils. To further the understanding of these processes, column experiments were performed to evaluate the effect of biomass growth on decane or naphthalene dissolved in simulated groundwater on the hydraulic conductivity and dispersivity of sand. The effect of grain size, groundwater flowrate, and nitrogen limitation were investigated. Given the low carbon loading resulting from the solubility of decane and naphthalene, sparse and discontinuous biomass growth reduced the hydraulic conductivity of the sand by 2 to 3 orders of magnitude after 35 to 63 days. This biogrowth initially increased dispersivity of the sand, but after longer periods of growth dispersivity, decreased to stable values near that of the clean sand. The results indicate that biogrowth can have significant effects in natural systems with low carbon loading and nitrogen availability, and should be taken into account when using models to predict contaminant transport in the field.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
APHA, AWWA, and WPCF. (1992). “Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater.” 18th Ed., Washington, D.C.
Barth, G. R. (1999). “Intermediate-scale tracer tests in heterogeneous porous media: Investigation of density, predictability and characterization of NAPL entrapment.” PhD dissertation, Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, Colo.
Bielefeldt, A. R., and Stensel, H. D.(1999a). “Biodegradation of aromatic compounds and TCE by a filamentous bacteria-dominated consortium.” Biodegradation, 10(1), 1–13.
Bielefeldt, A. R., and Stensel, H. D.(1999b), “Evaluation of biodegradation kinetic testing methods and longterm variability in biokinetics for BTEX metabolism.” Water Res., 33(3), 733–740.
Characklis, W. G., and Marshall, K. C., eds. (1990). Biofilms, Wiley, New York.
Cooke, A. J., Rowe, R. K., Rittmann, B. E., and Fleming, I. R.(1999). “Modeling biochemically drive mineral precipitation in anaerobic biofilms.” Water Sci. Technol., 39(7), 57–64.
Cunningham, A. B., Characklis, W. G., Abedeen, F., and Crawford, D.(1991). “Influence of biofilm accumulation on porous media hydrodynamics.” Environ. Sci. Technol., 25(7), 1305–1310.
Freeze, R.A., and Cherry, J.A. (1979). Groudwater, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.
Gaudy, A. F., and Gaudy, E. T. (1980). Microbiology for environmental scientists and engineers, McGraw-Hill, New York.
Harleman, D. R. F., Mehlhorn, P. F., and Rumer, R. R.(1963). “Dispersion-permeability correlation in porous media.” J. Hydraul. Div., Am. Soc. Civ. Eng., 89(HY2), 67–85.
Heath, M. S., Wirtel, S. A., and Rittmann, B. E.(1990). “Simplified design of biofilm processes using normalized loading curves.” Res. J. Water Pollut. Control Fed., 63(2), 185–192.
Illangasekare, T. H., Armbruster, E. J., and Yates, D. N.(1995). “Non-Agueous-Phase Fluids in Heterogeneous Aquifiers-Experimental Study.” J. Environ. Eng., 121(8), 571–579.
Newell, C. J., McLeod, R. K., and Gonzales, J. R. (1996). “BIOSCREEN: Natural attenuation decision support system. Version 1.3.” Rep. EPA/600/R-96/087, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Perry, R. H., and Chilton, C. H. (1973). Chemical Engineers’ Handbook, 5th Ed. McGraw-Hill, New York.
Rafai, H. S., Newell, C. J., Gonzales, J. R., Dendrou, S., Dendrou, B., Kennedy, L., and Wilson, J. T. (1998). “BIOPLUME III natural attenuation decision support system: Version 1.0.” Rep. EPA/600/R-98/010, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington D.C.
Rittmann, B. E.(1982). “The effect of shear stress on biofilm loss rate.” Biotechnol. Bioeng., 24, 501–506.
Rittmann, B. E.(1993). “The significance of biofilms in porous media.” Water Resour. Res., 29(7), 2195–2202.
Sharp, R. R., Cunningham, A. B., Komlos, J., and Billmayer, J.(1999). “Observation of thick biofilm accumulation and structure in porous media and corresponding hydrodynamic and mass transfer effects.” Water Sci. Technol., 39(7), 195–201.
Taylor, S. W., and Jaffe, P. R.(1990a). “Biofilm growth and the related changes in the physical properties of a porous medium. 1. Experimental investigation.” Water Resour. Res., 26(9), 2153–2159.
Taylor, S. W., and Jaffe, P. R.(1990b). “Biofilm growth and the related changes in the physical properties of a porous medium. 2. Permeability.” Water Resour. Res., 26(9), 2161–2170.
Taylor, S. W., and Jaffe, P. R.(1990c). “Biofilm growth and the related changes in the physical properties of a porous medium. 3. Dispersivity and model verification.” Water Resour. Res., 26(9), 2171–2180.
Torbati, H. M., Raiders, R. A., Donaldson, E. C., McInerney, M. J., Jenneman, G. E., and Knapp, R. M.(1986). “Biofilm accumulation in sandstone.” J. Ind. Microbiol., 1, 227–234.
Vandevivere, P., and Baveye, P.(1992). “Saturated hydraulic conductivity reduction caused by aerobic bacteria in sand columns.” Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., 56(1), 1–13.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 128 • Issue 1 • January 2002
Pages: 51 - 59
Copyright
Copyright © 2002 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jul 25, 2000
Accepted: Jul 18, 2001
Published online: Jan 1, 2002
Published in print: Jan 2002
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.