Biodegradation monitoring of toluene by geo-electrical measurements and CO2 analyses : a column study

Cécile Noel (1, 2) , Jean-Christophe Gourry (1) , Jacques Deparis (1) , Fabienne Battaglia-Brunet (1) , Michaela Blessing (1) , Christophe Guimbaud (2) , Ioannis Ignatiadis (1)

1 BRGM - Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières (BRGM)
2 LPC2E - Laboratoire de Physique et Chimie de l'Environnement et de l'Espace

Hydrocarbon contaminated aquifers can be successfully treated through biodegradation. However, in situ sampling for monitoring the treatment is expensive, invasive and can be insufficient to obtain a robust monitoring as the information provided is restricted to vertical profiles at discrete locations. An alternative method was tested in order to improve the efficiency of the monitoring. An electrical geophysical method, Spectral Induced Polarization (SIP), was combined with CO2 analyses, concentration and carbon isotopic ratio, to monitor toluene aerobic biodegradation in columns. Microbial activity was characterized by CO2 production, carbon isotopic fractionation and also by an evolution of the SIP response in correlation with biofilm growth and the associated bacterial activity (CO2 production as a consequence of toluene biodegradation). Combination of geophysical measurements with CO2 analyses are proving to be highly promising for real field scale biodegradation monitoring

Keywords: biodegradation; hydrocarbons; monitoring; induced polarization; carbon isotopic fractionation

Domains: Environmental Sciences; Environmental Engineering

Cécile Noel, Jean-Christophe Gourry, Jacques Deparis, Fabienne Battaglia-Brunet, Michaela Blessing, et al.. Biodegradation monitoring of toluene by geo-electrical measurements and CO2 analyses : a column study. 6th European Bioremediation Conference, Jun 2015, Chania, Greece. 2015. ⟨hal-01144029⟩