Modeling kinetic processes controlling hydrogen and acetate concentrations in an aquifer-derived microcosm

Groundwater contaminants may degrade via fermentation to intermediate species, which are subsequently consumed by terminal electron-accepting processes (TEAPs). A numerical model of an aquifer-derived laboratory microcosm is developed to simulate the dynamic behavior of fermentation and respiration in groundwater by coupling microbial growth and substrate utilization kinetics with a formulation that also includes aqueous speciation and other geochemical reactions including surface complexation, mineral dissolution, and precipitation. The model is used to test approaches that currently make use of H2(aq) to diagnose prevalent TEAPs in groundwater. Competition between TEAPs is integral to the conceptual model of the simulation, and the results indicate that competitive exclusion is significant but with some overlap found in the temporal sequence of TEAPs. Steady-state H2(aq) concentrations observed during different TEAPs do not differ significantly. The results are not consistent with previous applications of the partial equilibrium approach since most TEAP redox pairs exhibit free energies that suggest a particular process is able to proceed, yet observations here show that this process does not proceed.