Motivation

Yefim Shtirkin is currently working on his PhD thesis, after successfully graduating from Institute of Applied Geosciences at Karlsruhe Institute for Technology with MSc in the field of hydrochemistry and numerical modelling of geochemical processes.

The main goal of Yefim’s thesis is to develop comprehensive process-based 3D reactive transport numerical models for simulating the enhanced bioremediation of such pollutants as chlorinated solvents and BTEX or clogging processes in the vicinity of the injection wells at the former gas works in south Germany within the cooperation project with ARCADIS Germany GmbH. Furthermore, his work aims to support laboratory and field experiments.

The unique coupling and development of hydrogeological, chemical and reactive transport numerical models such as PHAST, PHREEQC and MODFLOW provide a methodology for valuable and realistic investigatory simulations. This interaction makes a great framework available for use in order to develop and test new quantitative and qualitative assessment tools. The work also includes the evolution of original coupled 3D reactive transport models and software with real applicability to current field practice with future commercial potential.