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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Water
Sec. Water and Built Environment
Volume 7 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/frwa.2025.1499448
This article is part of the Research Topic Integrating Groundwater Remediation with Thermal Energy Storage for Sustainable Urban Development View all articles

Combining Microcosm Biodegradation and Reactive Transport Modeling to Explore the Feasibility of ATES-Bioremediation Approaches

Provisionally accepted
Henning Wienkenjohann Henning Wienkenjohann 1Mohammad Sufian Bin Hudari Mohammad Sufian Bin Hudari 2Klaus Mosthaf Klaus Mosthaf 1Carsten Vogt Carsten Vogt 2Ivonne Nijenhuis Ivonne Nijenhuis 2Massimo Rolle Massimo Rolle 3*
  • 1 Technical University of Denmark, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark
  • 2 Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres (HZ), Leipzig, Lower Saxony, Germany
  • 3 Darmstadt University of Technology, Darmstadt, Germany

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    This study presents a process-based model analysis of non-isothermal biodegradation of chlorinated ethenes in batch microcosm setups and field-scale remediation, combining Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage with in situ bioremediation (ATES-ISB). The features of the proposed modeling framework include: (i) kinetic multi-phase mass transfer and temperature-dependent biodegradation in batch systems, and (ii) multi-dimensional non-isothermal fluid flow, heat transport, and contaminant transport in a physically and chemically heterogeneous aquifer combined with temperature-dependent microbial kinetics. The model was used to analyze an experimental microcosm dataset of temperaturedependent reductive dehalogenation of chlorinated ethenes, from which maximum specific degradation rates were derived. A scenario modeling investigation is presented, considering an ATES-ISB intervention in an aquifer contaminated with trichloroethene, where heated groundwater is injected and lactate is delivered to stimulate in situ microbial activity and contaminant transformation. Four scenario parameters were varied to identify the optimal conditions for efficient bioremediation. High lactate concentrations and temperatures at 20 °C and 30 °C led to more complete transformation of chlorinated ethenes in the considered heterogeneous aquifer system. Furthermore, the pumping rate and the natural groundwater flow velocity were found to control the delivery of heated water and solutes, including lactate, in the aquifer. The outcomes of the scenario simulations performed in this study are useful for designing non-isothermal bioremediation interventions in groundwater systems polluted with organic contaminants.

    Keywords: microcosms, Aquifer thermal energy storage, bioremediation, Chlorinated ethenes, reactive transport modeling, Scenario simulations

    Received: 20 Sep 2024; Accepted: 31 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Wienkenjohann, Bin Hudari, Mosthaf, Vogt, Nijenhuis and Rolle. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Massimo Rolle, Darmstadt University of Technology, Darmstadt, Germany

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