Research Project CX4

Enzymatically or Microbially Induced Calcite Precipitation (E/M ICP) in porous media is an engineered technology that allows for a targeted reduction of pore space and thus permeability. Apart from such changes in hydraulic properties, E/M ICP is also one of the most promising ways to improve a soil’s mechanical properties.

However, little is known about the effectiveness of E/M ICP in enhancing the soil’s mechanical performance or the coupled hydraulic and poro-mechanical effects on the porous media. Such effects are significant in subsurface gas injection scenarios, which may provoke the reactivation of closed cracks within the porous media and raise concerns about underground stability and efficiency of injections. This project focuses on developing a numerical model for simulating the geomechanical, hydraulic, and MICP processes into the Open-Source numerical simulator DuMux.

Consequently, it is critical to obtain a constitutive relationship to quantitatively describe the mechanical effect of MICP and formulate a conceptual model, including the flow and transport of fluids, the deformation of porous media, and the simplified biological reactions. The implementation of the model will build upon previous work and will be validated with the planned experiments.