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Kinetics of substrate biodegradation under the cumulative effects of bioavailability and self-inhibition.
Environ. Sci. Technol. 49, 5529-5537 (2015)
Microbial degradation is an important process in many environments controlling for instance the cycling of nutrients or the biodegradation of contaminants. At high substrate concentrations toxic effects may inhibit the degradation process. Bioavailability limitations of a degradable substrate can therefore either improve the overall dynamics of degradation by softening the contaminant toxicity effects to microorganisms, or slow down the biodegradation by reducing the microbial access to the substrate. Many studies on biodegradation kinetics of a self-inhibitive substrate have mainly focused on physiological responses of the bacteria to substrate concentration levels without considering the substrate bioavailability limitations rising from different geophysical and geochemical dynamics at pore-scale. In this regard, the role of bioavailability effects on the kinetics of self-inhibiting substrates is poorly understood. In this study, we theoretically analyze this role and assess the interactions between self-inhibition and mass transfer-limitations using analytical/numerical solutions, and show the findings practical relevance for a simple model scenario. Although individually self-inhibition and mass-transfer limitations negatively impact biodegradation, their combined effect may enhance biodegradation rates above a concentration threshold. To our knowledge, this is the first theoretical study describing the cumulative effects of the two mechanisms together.
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Publication type
Article: Journal article
Document type
Scientific Article
Keywords
Mass-transfer; Subsurface Environments; Product Inhibition; Bacterial-growth; Monod Kinetics; Pore-scale; Degradation; Transport; Phenol; Phase
Language
english
Publication Year
2015
HGF-reported in Year
2015
ISSN (print) / ISBN
0013-936X
e-ISSN
1520-5851
Quellenangaben
Volume: 49,
Issue: 9,
Pages: 5529-5537
Publisher
ACS
Publishing Place
Washington, DC
Reviewing status
Peer reviewed
Institute(s)
Institute of Groundwater Ecology (IGOE)
POF-Topic(s)
20403 - Sustainable Water Management
Research field(s)
Environmental Sciences
PSP Element(s)
G-504390-001
WOS ID
WOS:000354155800034
Scopus ID
84928905370
Erfassungsdatum
2015-05-17