Biofilms in porous media: development of macroscopic transport equations via volume averaging with closure for local mass equilibrium conditions

In this work, we upscale a pore-scale description of mass transport in a porous medium containing biofilm to develop the relevant Darcy-scale equations. We begin with the pore-scale descriptions of mass transport, interphase mass transfer, and biologically-mediated reactions; these processes are then upscaled using the method of volume averaging to obtain the macroscale mass balance equations. We focus on the case of local mass equilibrium conditions where the averaged concentrations in the fluid and biological phases can be assumed to be proportional and for which a one-equation macroscopic model may be developed. We predict the effective dispersion tensor by a closure scheme that is solved for the cases of both simple and complex unit cells. The domain of validity of the approach is clearly identified, both theoretically and numerically, and unitless groupings indicating the domain of validity are reported

Gephebase, a database of genotype-phenotype relationships for natural and domesticated variation in Eukaryotes

International audienceGephebase is a manually-curated database compiling our accumulated knowledge of the genes and mutations that underlie natural, domesticated and experimental phenotypic variation in all Eukaryotes-mostly animals, plants and yeasts. Gephebase aims to compile studies where the genotype-phenotype association (based on linkage mapping, association mapping or a candidate gene approach) is relatively well supported. Human clinical traits and aberrant mutant phenotypes in laboratory organisms are not included and can be found in other databases (e.g. OMIM, OMIA, Monarch Initiative). Gephebase contains more than 1700 entries. Each entry corresponds to an allelic difference at a given gene and its associated phenotypic change(s) between two species or two individuals of the same species, and is enriched with molecular details , taxonomic information, and bibliographic information. Users can easily browse entries and perform searches at various levels using boolean operators (e.g. transposable elements, snakes, carotenoid content , Doebley). Data is exportable in spreadsheet format. This database allows to perform meta-analyses to extract global trends about the living world and the research fields. Gephebase should also help breeders , conservationists and others to identify promising target genes for crop improvement, parasite/pest control, bioconservation and genetic diagnostic. It is freely available at www.gephebase.org

A massively parallel OpenFOAM solver for Richards Equation: towards mechanistic modelling of transfers at the watershed scale

We focus on the development and test of a massively parallel OpenFOAM solver for Richards Equation, towards mechanistic modelling of flow and transport phenomena at the watershed scale

Numerical Assessment of Morphological and Hydraulic Properties of Moss, Lichen and Peat from a Permafrost Peatland

Due to its insulating and draining role, assessing ground vegetation cover properties is important for high-resolution hydrological modeling of permafrost regions. In this study, morphological and effective hydraulic properties of Western Siberian Lowland ground vegetation samples (lichens, Sphagnum mosses, peat) are numerically studied based on tomography scans. Porosity is estimated through a void voxels counting algorithm, showing the existence of representative elementary volumes (REVs) of porosity for most samples. Then, two methods are used to estimate hydraulic conductivity depending on the sample's homogeneity. For homogeneous samples, direct numerical simulations of a single-phase flow are performed, leading to a definition of hydraulic conductivity related to a REV, which is larger than those obtained for porosity. For heterogeneous samples, no adequate REV may be defined. To bypass this issue, a pore network representation is created from computerized scans. Morphological and hydraulic properties are then estimated through this simplified representation. Both methods converged on similar results for porosity. Some discrepancies are observed for a specific surface area. Hydraulic conductivity fluctuates by 2 orders of magnitude, depending on the method used. Porosity values are in line with previous values found in the literature, showing that arctic cryptogamic cover can be considered an open and well-connected porous medium (over 99 % of overall porosity is open porosity). Meanwhile, digitally estimated hydraulic conductivity is higher compared to previously obtained results based on field and laboratory experiments. However, the uncertainty is less than in experimental studies available in the literature. Therefore, biological and sampling artifacts are predominant over numerical biases. This could be related to compressibility effects occurring during field or laboratory measurements. These numerical methods lay a solid foundation for interpreting the homogeneity of any type of sample and processing some quantitative properties' assessment, either with image processing or with a pore network model. The main observed limitation is the input data quality (e.g., the tomographic scans' resolution) and its pre-processing scheme. Thus, some supplementary studies are compulsory for assessing syn-sampling and syn-measurement perturbations in experimentally estimated, effective hydraulic properties of such a biological porous medium.</p

An open source massively parallel solver for Richards equation: Mechanistic modelling of water fluxes at the watershed scale

In this paper we present a massively parallel open source solver for Richards equation, named the RichardsFOAM solver. This solver has been developed in the framework of the open source generalist computational fluid dynamics tool box OpenFOAM® and is capable to deal with large scale problems in both space and time. The source code for RichardsFOAM may be downloaded from the CPC program library website. It exhibits good parallel performances (up to ∼90% parallel efficiency with 1024 processors both in strong and weak scaling), and the conditions required for obtaining such performances are analysed and discussed. These performances enable the mechanistic modelling of water fluxes at the scale of experimental watersheds (up to few square kilometres of surface area), and on time scales of decades to a century. Such a solver can be useful in various applications, such as environmental engineering for long term transport of pollutants in soils, water engineering for assessing the impact of land settlement on water resources, or in the study of weathering processes on the watersheds

Transport de soluté biologiquement actif en milieu poreux incluant une phase biofilm : de la modélisation numérique aux perspectives expérimentales

Modeling transport in porous media of organic chemical solute in presence of a bacterial population growing as biofilms is an important area of research for environmental applications, for example for remediation of groundwater contaminated by organic pollutants (biosparging, bio-barriers). Biofilms, which are composed of bacteria and extracellular organic substances, grow on the pore walls of the porous medium. Bacteria degrade the organic solute by their metabolism and thus may contribute to pollution decrease. Bio-reactive transport of an organic solute in a porous medium including a biofilm phase is a strongly multi-scale (from the bacteria scale to the heterogeneity scale of the aquifer) and coupled (involving hydrodynamic, physicochemical and biochemical phenomena) process. The organic solute is transported by convection and diffusion in the fluid phase and diffuses into the biofilm phase, where it is degraded by bacterial metabolism. The goal of this work is to develop macroscopic models of bio-reactive transport at the Darcy-scale through volume averaging based on the data available at pore-scale. In the general case, the macroscopic system obtained by averaging pore-scale equations is a two coupled equations system (one equation for each phase), called two-equation model. By considering the relation between averaged concentration in the fluid phase and averaged concentration in the biofilm phase, several regimes of transport can be found which allow simplifying this system into a one equation system. The local mass equilibrium assumption leads to such a simplified model. When an equilibrium relationship between phases cannot be considered, a one equation model may though be developed if the biodegration rate is limited by external mass transfer or by the kinetics of bacterial metabolism. The use of these models implies the numerical solving of closure problems, in order to set up the values of the macroscopic transport parameters (dispersion tensor, interfacial flux). Computations of these effective coefficients have been performed in different situations of mass transport in porous medium in order to study their behaviour. The results of these models have then been compared with direct simulations performed on a simplified geometry representative of a two-dimensional porous medium including a biofilm phase. Based on these comparisons, the validity domain of this model has been identified in terms of hydrodynamic and biochemical conditions of transport (i.e. the Péclet number and the Damköhler number). The set up of an experimental model of transport in a porous media including a biofilm phase has also been started, in order to make experimental validations of the previously developed numerical models and to build up an additional tool to study the considered phenomenaModéliser les phénomènes de transport de solutés organiques en milieux poreux colonisés par des populations bactériennes se développant sous forme de biofilms est un domaine de recherche important pour un certain nombre d'applications environnementales, comme par exemple pour les méthodes de bioremédiation des sols et des eaux contaminés par des polluants organiques (biosparging, bio-barrières). Les biofilms, qui sont composés principalement de bactéries et de substances polymériques extracellulaires, peuvent se développer sur les parois de grains d'un milieu poreux. Le métabolisme bactérien dégrade les solutés organiques et contribue ainsi à la diminution de la contamination. Le transport bio-réactif de composés organiques dans un milieu poreux incluant un biofilm est un problème fortement multi-échelle (depuis l'échelle de la bactérie jusqu'à l'échelle de l'aquifère) et fortement couplé (avec des phénomènes hydrodynamiques, physico-chimiques et biochimiques). Le soluté organique est transporté par convection et diffusion dans la phase fluide et diffuse dans la phase biofilm, où il est dégradé par le métabolisme bactérien. Le but de ce travail est de développer des modèles de transport bio-réactif définis à l'échelle de Darcy à partir des données disponibles à l'échelle du pore, en adoptant la méthode de changement d'échelle dite de prise de moyenne volumique. Dans le cas général, une telle approche conduit à un modèle macroscopique de transport à deux équations couplées (une équation par phase de transport). En considérant les relations entre les concentrations moyennées dans chaque phase, plusieurs régimes de transport permettant de dégénérer ce modèle en modèle à une seule équation peuvent être identifiés. L'hypothèse d'équilibre de masse local conduit à un tel modèle simplifié. En condition de non-équilibre, deux cas limites permettent également de développer des modèles de transport à une équation : le cas où le taux de biodégradation est contrôlé par le transfert de masse externe et le cas ou il est contrôlé par la cinétique de réaction. L'utilisation de ces quatre modèles implique la résolution numérique de problèmes de fermeture, afin d'évaluer les paramètres macroscopiques de transports (tenseur de dispersion, taux de dégradation). Des calculs de coefficients effectifs ont été effectués dans différentes conditions de transport afin d'étudier leur comportement. Les résultats de ces modèles ont été comparés avec ceux obtenus par simulations directe à l'échelle microscopique pour une géométrie de pore bidimensionnelle stratifiée. À partir de ces comparaisons, les domaines de validité de chaque modèle ont été identifiés en termes de conditions hydrodynamique et biochimique de transport. (i.e. le nombre de Péclet et le nombre de Damköhler). Le développement d'un modèle expérimental de transport en milieux poreux incluant un biofilm a également été entamé, afin d'une part d'effectuer une validation expérimentale des modèles numériques préalablement développés et d'autre part de fournir un outil supplémentaire pour l'étude des phénomènes considéré

RichardsFoam2: A new version of RichardsFoam devoted to the modelling of the vadose zone

International audienceRichardsFoam2 is an updated version of the OpenFOAM® solver RichardsFoam, presented in Orgogozo et al., Comput. Phys. Commun. 2014. The new features are the following: (i) The direct handling of fully heterogeneous porous media, with all the van Genuchten parameters defined as spatially varying scalar fields. (ii) The computation of the density of water flux at each face of the mesh cells, which allows the implementation of fixed water flux (e.g.: rain flux) boundary conditions. (iii) The integration in the water flow resolution of the actual evapotranspiration within the root zone, computed on the basis of the potential evapotranspiration. These new features allow to deal with the hydrology of real (i.e.: heterogeneous) soils in natural conditions, submitted to rain and evapotranspiration. Thus it considerably broadens the field of applicability of the OpenFOAM® solver for Richards equation. The description of the elements contained in this release may be found in the readMe file. In RichardsFoam2_presentation.pdf, one will find a more detailed description of the new features offered by RichardsFoam2 (equations, descriptions of the proposed test cases,…,…)

RichardsFoam3: A new version of RichardsFoam for continental surfaces hydrogeology modelling

International audienceRichardsFoam3 is an updated version of the OpenFOAM® solver RichardsFoam, previously presented in "An open source massively parallel solver for Richards equation: Mechanistic modelling of water fluxes at the watershed scale" by L. Orgogozo, N. Renon, C. Soulaine, F. Hénon, S.K. Tomer, D. Labat, O.S. Pokrovsky, M. Sekhar, R. Ababou, M. Quintard (Comput. Phys. Commun. 185 (2014) 3358-3371, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpc.2014.08.004), and in the new version announcement "RichardsFOAM2: a new version of RichardsFOAM devoted to the modelling of the vadose zone" by L. Orgogozo (Comput. Phys. Commun. 196 (2015) 619-620, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpc.2015.07.009). This new version includes improvements of memory handling and of on-the-fly control of computations, a better integration in the OpenFOAM® framework, simplifications of the coding of some expressions, as well as new advanced boundary conditions. All together these developments allow to enhance the ease of application of the code to continental surfaces hydrogeology modelling, its computational performances and its readability. The description of the elements contained in this release may be found in the readMe file. Please note that you may also find RichardsFoam3 on the hydrology page of the develop.openfoam.com interface: https://develop.openfoam.com/Community/hydrology/

Bioreactive transport of solute in a porous medium hosting a biofilm phase : from numerical modeling to exprimental prospects

Modéliser les phénomènes de transport de solutés organiques en milieux poreux colonisés par des populations bactériennes se développant sous forme de biofilms est un domaine de recherche important pour un certain nombre d’applications environnementales, comme par exemple pour les méthodes de bioremédiation des sols et des eaux contaminés par des polluants organiques (biosparging, bio-barrières …). Les biofilms, qui sont composés principalement de bactéries et de substances polymériques extracellulaires, peuvent se développer sur les parois de grains d’un milieu poreux. Le métabolisme bactérien dégrade les solutés organiques et contribue ainsi à la diminution de la contamination. Le transport bio-réactif de composés organiques dans un milieu poreux incluant un biofilm est un problème fortement multi-échelle (depuis l’échelle de la bactérie jusqu’à l’échelle de l’aquifère) et fortement couplé (avec des phénomènes hydrodynamiques, physico-chimiques et biochimiques). Le soluté organique est transporté par convection et diffusion dans la phase fluide et diffuse dans la phase biofilm, où il est dégradé par le métabolisme bactérien. Le but de ce travail est de développer des modèles de transport bio-réactif définis à l’échelle de Darcy à partir des données disponibles à l’échelle du pore, en adoptant la méthode de changement d’échelle dite de prise de moyenne volumique. Dans le cas général, une telle approche conduit à un modèle macroscopique de transport à deux équations couplées (une équation par phase de transport). En considérant les relations entre les concentrations moyennées dans chaque phase, plusieurs régimes de transport permettant de dégénérer ce modèle en modèle à une seule équation peuvent être identifiés. L’hypothèse d’équilibre de masse local conduit à un tel modèle simplifié. En condition de non-équilibre, deux cas limites permettent également de développer des modèles de transport à une équation : le cas où le taux de biodégradation est contrôlé par le transfert de masse externe et le cas ou il est contrôlé par la cinétique de réaction. L’utilisation de ces quatre modèles implique la résolution numérique de problèmes de fermeture, afin d’évaluer les paramètres macroscopiques de transports (tenseur de dispersion, taux de dégradation …). Des calculs de coefficients effectifs ont été effectués dans différentes conditions de transport afin d’étudier leur comportement. Les résultats de ces modèles ont été comparés avec ceux obtenus par simulations directe à l’échelle microscopique pour une géométrie de pore bidimensionnelle stratifiée. À partir de ces comparaisons, les domaines de validité de chaque modèle ont été identifiés en termes de conditions hydrodynamique et biochimique de transport. (i.e. le nombre de Péclet et le nombre de Damköhler). Le développement d’un modèle expérimental de transport en milieux poreux incluant un biofilm a également été entamé, afin d’une part d’effectuer une validation expérimentale des modèles numériques préalablement développés et d’autre part de fournir un outil supplémentaire pour l’étude des phénomènes considérésModeling transport in porous media of organic chemical solute in presence of a bacterial population growing as biofilms is an important area of research for environmental applications, for example for remediation of groundwater contaminated by organic pollutants (biosparging, bio-barriers …). Biofilms, which are composed of bacteria and extracellular organic substances, grow on the pore walls of the porous medium. Bacteria degrade the organic solute by their metabolism and thus may contribute to pollution decrease. Bio-reactive transport of an organic solute in a porous medium including a biofilm phase is a strongly multi-scale (from the bacteria scale to the heterogeneity scale of the aquifer) and coupled (involving hydrodynamic, physicochemical and biochemical phenomena) process. The organic solute is transported by convection and diffusion in the fluid phase and diffuses into the biofilm phase, where it is degraded by bacterial metabolism. The goal of this work is to develop macroscopic models of bio-reactive transport at the Darcy-scale through volume averaging based on the data available at pore-scale. In the general case, the macroscopic system obtained by averaging pore-scale equations is a two coupled equations system (one equation for each phase), called two-equation model. By considering the relation between averaged concentration in the fluid phase and averaged concentration in the biofilm phase, several regimes of transport can be found which allow simplifying this system into a one equation system. The local mass equilibrium assumption leads to such a simplified model. When an equilibrium relationship between phases cannot be considered, a one equation model may though be developed if the biodegration rate is limited by external mass transfer or by the kinetics of bacterial metabolism. The use of these models implies the numerical solving of closure problems, in order to set up the values of the macroscopic transport parameters (dispersion tensor, interfacial flux …). Computations of these effective coefficients have been performed in different situations of mass transport in porous medium in order to study their behaviour. The results of these models have then been compared with direct simulations performed on a simplified geometry representative of a two-dimensional porous medium including a biofilm phase. Based on these comparisons, the validity domain of this model has been identified in terms of hydrodynamic and biochemical conditions of transport (i.e. the Péclet number and the Damköhler number). The set up of an experimental model of transport in a porous media including a biofilm phase has also been started, in order to make experimental validations of the previously developed numerical models and to build up an additional tool to study the considered phenomen