A MEAN-BEHAVIOR MODEL OF AEROBIC BIODEGRADATION IN HETEROGENEOUS FORMATION

It has been observed that the field biodegradation rates for soluble h ydrocarbon plumes are significantly smaller than the aerobic rates obs erved in the laboratory. It is believed that this difference is relate d to the fact that in the field oxygen and hydrocarbon must be mixed b efore the biodegradation reaction can occur, and that the effective de gradation rate is controlled by the actual, not mean, concentrations o f oxygen and hydrocarbon. In this work, we present a conceptual model of oxygen-mixing limited biodegradation, which indicates that the effe ctive degradation rate should depend on the cross correlation between the oxygen and hydrocarbon concentration fluctuations. This is followe d by a development of a rigorous, field-scale model.