Modeling the kinetics of microbial degradation of deicing chemicals in porous media under flow conditions

A quantitative knowledge of the fate of deicing chemicals in the subsurface can be provided by joint analysis of lab experiments with numerical simulation models. In the present study, published experimental data of microbial degradation of the deicing chemical propylene glycol (PG) under flow conditions in soil columns were simulated inversely to receive the parameters of degradation. We evaluated different scenarios of an advection-dispersion model including different terms for degradation, such as zero order, first order and inclusion of a growing and decaying biomass for their ability to explain the data. The general break-through behavior of propylene glycol in soil columns can be simulated well using a coupled model of solute transport and degradation with growth and decay of biomass. The susceptibility of the model to non-unique solutions was investigated using systematical forward and inverse simulations. We found that the model tends to equifinal solutions under certain conditions.

► Inverse modeling of hydrocarbon degradation and transport in a soil column. ► Modeling degradation of propylene glycol requires a dynamic biomass approach. ► Equifinality evaluation of inverse estimates of biodegradation parameters.