BIOB: a mathematical model for the biodegradation of low solubility hydrocarbons.
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 2.0 mg N/L.
Center for Natural Resources Development and Protection, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ 07102, United States.
Xiaolong
X
Geng
Center for Natural Resources Development and Protection, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ 07102, United States. Electronic address: boufadel@gmail.com.
Michel C
MC
Boufadel
Center for Natural Resources Development and Protection, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ 07102, United States.
Yves R
YR
Personna
Wealth from Oceans Flagship, Commonwealth Scientific and Industry Research Organization (CSIRO), Perth, Australia.
Ken
K
Lee
BP Corporation North America, Inc, Naperville, IL 60563, United States.
David
D
Tsao
Exxon Mobil Research and Engineering, Fairfax, VA 22037, United States.
Erik D
ED
Demicco
D061006:Bays; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D018533:Biomass; D003691:Delaware; D006838:Hydrocarbons / Q000378:metabolism*; D007700:Kinetics; D008954:Models, Biological; D059392:Petroleum Pollution; D012995:Solubility
D006838:Hydrocarbons
Biodegradation; Dual-Monod kinetics; Light crude oil; Mathematical model; Parameter estimation; Sand beach