Mathematical model of biofilm induced calcite precipitation

Abstract

Microbially modulated carbonate precipitation is a fundamentally important phenomenon of both engineered and natural environments. In this paper, we propose a mixture model for biofilm induced calcite precipitation. The model consists of three phases—calcite, biofilm and solvent—which satisfy conservation of mass and momentum laws with addition of a free energy of mixing. The model also accounts for chemistry, mechanics, thermodynamics, fluid and electrodiffusion transport effects. Numerical simulations qualitatively capturing the dynamics of this process and revealing effects of kinetic parameters and external flow conditions are presented.