Impact of Water Saturation on Microbial Hydrogen Consumption in Porous Media.

ABSTRACT: Hydrogen (H₂) production from steel corrosion challenges the long-term stability of deep geological repositories for radioactive waste storage. Subsurface microbial communities are known to consume H₂, but previous work has primarily focused on fully saturated porous environments. However, gas production will prevent full water saturation of the repository tunnels, where microbial H₂ consumption is expected. Here, we investigate H₂ consumption rates at four saturation levels in sand-bentonite, a candidate tunnel backfill material for the Swiss repository concept. The rates ranged from 0.14 μmol·d^-1·cm^-3_{sand-bentonite} (at 70% saturation) to 2.23 μmol·d^-1·cm^-3_{sand-bentonite} (at 90% s

SUBMITTER: Rolland C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12810378 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature