title: Reactive transport modeling of processes controlling the distribution and natural attenuation of phenolic compounds in a deep sandstone aquifer.
abstract: Reactive solute transport modeling was utilized to evaluate the potential for natural attenuation of a contaminant plume containing phenolic compounds at a chemical producer in the West Midlands, UK. The reactive transport simulations consider microbially mediated biodegradation of the phenolic compounds (phenols, cresols, and xylenols) by multiple electron acceptors. Inorganic reactions including hydrolysis, aqueous complexation, dissolution of primary minerals, formation of secondary mineral phases, and ion exchange are considered. One-dimensional (1D) and three-dimensional (3D) simulations were conducted. Mass balance calculations indicate that biodegradation in the saturated zone has degraded approximately 1-5% of the organic contaminant plume over a time period of 47 years. Simulations indicate that denitrification is the most significant degradation process, accounting for approximately 50% of the organic contaminant removal, followed by sulfate reduction and fermentation reactions, each contributing 15-20%. Aerobic respiration accounts for less than 10% of the observed contaminant removal in the saturated zone. Although concentrations of Fe(III) and Mn(IV) mineral phases are high in the aquifer sediment, reductive dissolution is limited, producing only 5% of the observed mass loss. Mass balance calculations suggest that no more than 20-25% of the observed total inorganic carbon (TIC) was generated from biodegradation reactions in the saturated zone. Simulations indicate that aerobic biodegradation in the unsaturated zone, before the contaminant entered the aquifer, may have produced the majority of the TIC observed in the plume. Because long-term degradation is limited to processes within the saturated zone, use of observed TIC concentrations to predict the future natural attenuation may overestimate contaminant degradation by a factor of 4-5.
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth Sciences, University of Waterloo, ON, Canada. umayer@eos.ubc.ca
authors.forename: K U
authors.initials: KU
authors.lastname: Mayer
authors.forename: S G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Benner
authors.forename: E O
authors.initials: EO
authors.lastname: Frind
authors.forename: S F
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Thornton
authors.forename: D N
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: Lerner
mesh_terms: D000332:Aerobiosis; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D006868:Hydrolysis; D007474:Ion Exchange; D007700:Kinetics; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D010636:Phenols / Q000032:analysis*; D012037:Refuse Disposal; D006113:United Kingdom; D014872:Water Movements; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D010636:Phenols; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical