BIOB: A mathematical model for the biodegradation of low solubility hydrocarbons

• Published in: Marine pollution bulletin Vol. 83; no. 1; pp. 138 - 147
• Main Authors: Geng, Xiaolong, Boufadel, Michel C., Personna, Yves R., Lee, Ken, Tsao, David, Demicco, Erik D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 15.06.2014; Elsevier
• Subjects: Animal and plant ecology; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Applied ecology; Bays; Beaches; Biodegradation; Biodegradation, Environmental; Biological and medical sciences; Biomass; Computer simulation; Delaware; Dual-Monod kinetics; Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution; Fittings; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General aspects. Techniques; Hydrocarbons; Hydrocarbons - metabolism; Kinetics; Light crude oil; Marine; Marine and brackish environment; Mathematical model; Mathematical models; Methods and techniques (sampling, tagging, trapping, modelling...); Models, Biological; Nutrients; Parameter estimation; Petroleum Pollution; Sand; Sand beach; Sea water ecosystems; Solubility; Synecology; Delaware; Biodegradation; Light crude oil; Parameter estimation; Sand beach; Mathematical model; Dual-Monod kinetics; Sand; Hydrocarbon; Solubility; Environmental factor; Beaches; Marine environment; Pollutant; Crude oil; Organic compounds
• ISSN: 0025-326X; 1879-3363
• DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2014.04.007

•We use a model, BIOB, to simulate hydrocarbon biodegradation in porous media.•We estimate the kinetic parameters by fitting the model to experimental data.•Biodegradation process is sensitive to microbial maximum growth rate and decay rate.•Enhancing nitrogen concentration from 0.2 to 2mg/L will enhance biodegradation rate. Modeling oil biodegradation is an important step in predicting the long term fate of oil on beaches. Unfortunately, existing models do not account mechanistically for environmental factors, such as pore water nutrient concentration, affecting oil biodegradation, rather in an empirical way. We present herein a numerical model, BIOB, to simulate the biodegradation of insoluble attached hydrocarbon. The model was used to simulate an experimental oil spill on a sand beach. The biodegradation kinetic parameters were estimated by fitting the model to the experimental data of alkanes and aromatics. It was found that parameter values are comparable to their counterparts for the biodegradation of dissolved organic matter. The biodegradation of aromatics was highly affected by the decay of aromatic biomass, probably due to its low growth rate. Numerical simulations revealed that the biodegradation rate increases by 3–4 folds when the nutrient concentration is increased from 0.2 to 2.0mgN/L.