A mixed finite element finite volume approach for solving biodegradation transport in groundwater.

A numerical model for the simulation of flow and transport of organic compounds undergoing bacterial oxygen-and nitrate-based respiration is presented. General assumptions regarding microbial population, bacteria metabolism and effects of oxygen, nitrogen and nutrient concentration on organic substrate rate of consumption are briefly described. The numerical solution techniques for solving both the flow and the transport are presented. The saturated flow equation is discretized using a high-order mixed finite element scheme, which provides a highly accurate estimation of the velocity held. The transport equation for a sorbing porous medium is approximated using a finite volume scheme enclosing an upwind TVD shock-capturing technique for capturing concentration-unsteady steep fronts. The performance and capabilities of the present approach in a bio-remediation context are assessed by considering a set of test problems. The reliability of the numerical results concerning solution accuracy and the computational efficiency in terms of cost and memory requirements are also estimated.