Bioremediation Kinetics Simulator

Remediation Strategy

Initial contaminant load 200 mg/L

Soil / groundwater temperature 20 °C

O₂ / nutrient injection rate 0.08 /day

Contaminant left

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Microbial biomass

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Elapsed

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90% cleanup at

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How it works

Contaminant breakdown is modeled with dual-substrate Monod kinetics, the standard equation for microbial degradation rate: bacteria consume contaminant fastest when both the contaminant itself and dissolved oxygen (the electron acceptor) are abundant, and growth slows as either runs short.

-dC/dt = (μmax(T)/Y)·X·[C/(Ks+C)]·[O2/(Ko+O2)]
dX/dt  = Y·(-dC/dt) − kd·X
dO2/dt = kL·(O2sat−O2) − f·(-dC/dt)
μmax(T) = μmax20 · Q10^((T−20)/10)

Strategy — natural attenuation relies on the small indigenous microbial population (X₀ low) and slow passive oxygen diffusion (kL low). Biostimulation keeps the same native population but pumps in oxygen/nutrients, raising kL. Bioaugmentation injects a lab-grown inoculum, raising the starting biomass X₀ directly.
Initial contaminant load (C0) — how badly contaminated the site is (mg/L of hydrocarbons); resets the run.
Temperature — scales the maximum growth rate μmax through a Q10=2 rule: microbial metabolism roughly doubles for every 10°C, matching real seasonal/reactor-heating effects on cleanup speed.
O2/nutrient injection rate (kL) — tunable independently of strategy, showing that pumping oxygen alone is the actual lever behind biostimulation, regardless of which button is selected.

Real-world relevance: exactly this kinetic model (Monod-type substrate utilization coupled to biomass growth and an electron-acceptor balance) is what environmental engineers fit to field data to size pump-and-treat or in-situ bioventing systems and estimate cleanup timelines.

Contaminant (soil pores) Bacteria (biomass) Water table

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