Disrupting Bacteria Accumulation in Heterogeneous Flow Structures By Chemotaxis

Abstract:

Subsurface bacteria influence the environmental dynamics by controlling the complex bio-geo-chemical reactions driving many important processes (such as geothermal, EOR, or bioremediation). The large-scale consequences result from the microscale interactions occurring within the subsurface heterogeneous host medium. At these microscopic scales, the subsurface environment is very heterogeneous, and both reactants and microbes experience a huge heterogeneity of chemical and physical gradients. Using microscopy and microfluidics we assess the relationship between the heterogeneous flow within a simplified analogous porous medium and the characteristic microorganism resident time and transport properties within the host medium.