Field-scale Implementation Research Articles

Repurposing waste-iron electrocoagulated algal biomass as effective heterogenous (bio)electro-fenton catalyst for phthalate removal from wastewater

The presence of refractory micropollutants in natural waters poses significant environmental and health risks. Preferably, advanced oxidation techniques like electro-Fenton (EF) and bio-electro-Fenton (BEF) are used to mitigate micropollutants; nevertheless, their field-scale implementation is limited by prohibitive catalyst cost. As an alternative, waste-iron electrocoagulated algal biomass (A-BC/Fe) was explored as a heterogeneous Fenton catalyst to eliminate dimethyl phthalate (DMP) from wastewater. The Fenton-conducive morphological, chemical, and electrochemical properties of the A-BC/Fe catalyst were revealed by detailed characterisation. In EF treatment, 10 mg/L of DMP was completely degraded within 15 min at pH of 7.0, 50 mM Na2SO4, and cathode potential of − 1.4 V vs. Ag/AgCl. Moreover, the EF system achieved 87.80 ± 2.10% and 96.14 ± 1.10% of DMP removal from secondary and tertiary treated municipal sewage, respectively. The A-BC/Fe catalyst-driven EF process disintegrated DMP into benign non-toxic by-products and showed stable performance over eight batch cycles with only a 1.71% decline in DMP removal efficiency. Further, the A-BC/Fe-catalysed BEF system eliminated 94.81 ± 1.90% of DMP in 4 h while achieving a maximum power density of 124.03 ± 5.64 mW/m2. This investigation underscores the potential of repurposing electrocoagulated algal biomass as a sustainable heterogenous catalyst for micropollutant remediation.

Synergistic Methods for Chromium Cleanup Using Plant-Growth-Promoting Bacteria

Chromium (Cr) pollution contributes a significant threat to environmental and human health due to its widespread industrial use and toxic effects. Among the various remediation strategies, the application of plant-growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) has emerged as a promising approach. The article explores the synergistic potential of PGPB in enhancing plant-based remediation techniques for chromium cleanup. PGPBs enhance plant growth and stress tolerance through mechanisms such as hormone production, nitrogen fixation, and pathogen inhibition. Key strategies discussed include bioaugmentation, biostimulation, phytoextraction, and phytostabilization. These methods leverage the abilities of PGPB to promote plant growth, enhance chromium uptake, and immobilize chromium in the soil, thereby reducing its bioavailability and mobility. Case studies and experimental evidence highlight the effectiveness of PGPB in chromium-contaminated environments, demonstrating improved plant growth and metal accumulation. This review underscores the need for interdisciplinary collaboration, field-scale implementation, and ongoing research to harness the full potential of PGPB-mediated phytoremediation for sustainable chromium cleanup.

Agricultural watershed conservation and optimization using a participatory hydrological approach.

Maximizing the impact of agricultural wastewater conservation practices (CP) to achieve total maximum daily load (TMDL) scenarios in agricultural watersheds is a challenge for the practitioners. The complex modeling requirements of sophisticated hydrologic models make their use and interpretation difficult, preventing the inclusion of local watershed stakeholders' knowledge in the development of optimal TMDL scenarios. The present study develops a seamless modeling approach to transform the complex modeling outcomes of Hydrologic Simulation Program Fortran (HSPF) into a simplified participatory framework for developing optimized management scenarios. The study evaluates seven conservation practices in the Pomme de Terre watershed in Minnesota, USA, focusing on sediment and phosphorus pollutant load reductions incorporating farmers' opinions to guide practitioners toward implementing cost-effective CPs. Results show reduced tillage and filter strips are the most cost-effective practices for non-point source pollution reduction, followed by conservation cover perennials. The integration of SAM with HSPF is crucial for sustainable field-scale implementation of conservation practices through enhanced involvement of amateur-modeling stakeholders and farmers directly connected to fields.

A framework for applying interceptive mitigations for diffuse agricultural pollution

ABSTRACT Interceptive mitigation options implemented at the edge of agricultural fields and along run-off and drainage flow-paths can complement preventive in-field management actions to reduce diffuse contaminant losses to surface waters. However, it is often unclear to users which interceptive mitigation option is appropriate for their situation, where it should be located, what contaminant reductions and other benefits can be achieved, and what it would cost to implement, maintain, and operate these practices. We outline a framework for selecting and applying eight interceptive diffuse pollution mitigation practices potentially applicable on New Zealand farms: riparian grass filter, planted and multifunction buffers; constructed wetlands; woodchip bioreactors; filamentous algal nutrient scrubbers; sediment traps; and detainment bunds. The framework provides users with a semi-quantitative evaluation of the relative benefits and costs of the best suited mitigations across a range of farmed landscapes. It highlights where each mitigation has its niche in terms of the landscape fit, flow-path(s) intercepted, contaminant(s) targeted, efficacy, associated co-benefits, relative cost, operation and maintenance requirements, longevity, and consenting requirements. Testing and refinement of this framework is encouraged, using data from field-scale implementation, to better quantify efficacy in practice, and inform empirical models and decision making across farm and catchment scales.

Impact and challenges of nanotechnology in enhanced oil recovery

EOR is used to remove residual oil. Chemical, thermal, miscible, and other methods of enhanced oil recovery increase oil production.Nanotechnology, lately adopted by the oil and gas industry, may help the EOR area overcome its many obstacles. Sensors, composites, fluids, and coated particles use nanoparticles. Oil and gas applications benefit from nanoparticles' unique properties. Nanoparticles can enter porous materials bigger particles cannot. Due to their high surface-to-volume ratio, nanoparticles can be adjusted nanoscale to have interfacial, magnetic, or chemical properties to perform jobs. Nanoparticles fit oil and gas applications due to their unique properties. Despite the oil and gas industry's rising interest in nanoparticle uses, some barriers preclude field-scale implementation. Thus, this paper aims to address some of the issues hindering field-scale nanoparticle deployment. Oil and gas nanoparticle applications, challenges, environmental consequences, and uncertainties are also researched.We examined nanotechnology's effects and problems in EOR in this review.

A Comprehensive Review on Utilizing Nanomaterials in Enhanced Oil Recovery Applications

Chemicals are a pivotal part of many operations for the oil and gas industry. The purpose of chemical application in the subsurface reservoir is to decrease the mobility ratio between the displaced fluid and the displacing one or to increase the capillary number. These have been the favorable mechanisms for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR). Recently, it became a mainstay with EOR researchers looking for effective and efficient materials that can be economically feasible and environmentally friendly. Therefore, when the development of chemicals reached a peak point by introducing nanosized materials, it was of wondrous interest in EOR. Unlike other sizes, nanoparticles display distinct physical and chemical properties that can be utilized for multiple applications. Therefore, vast amounts of nanoparticles were examined in terms of formulation, size effect, reservoir condition, viscosity, IFT, and wettability alteration. When a holistic understanding of nanoparticles is aimed, it is necessary to review the recent studies comprehensively. This paper reviews the most recently published papers for nanoparticles in oil in general, emphasizing EOR, where most of these publications are between the years 2018 and 2022. It covers a thorough comparison of using nanoparticles in different EOR techniques and the expected range of oil recovery improvements. Moreover, this paper highlights the gaps existing in the field-scale implementation of NPs in EOR and opens space for research and development. The findings of this review paper suggest that the selection of the best NPs type for an EOR application is critical to the reservoir rock properties and conditions, reservoir fluids type, EOR mechanism, chemicals type (surfactant/polymer/alkaline), chemicals concentration used in the flooding process, and NPs properties and concentration.

Durability and strength degradation of xanthan gum based biopolymer treated soil subjected to severe weathering cycles

Biopolymer-based soil treatments have shown effectiveness in soil improvement, with successful field-scale implementation. In this study, we explored the effect of cyclic wetting–drying (W–D) and freezing–thawing (F–T) on the strength durability of biopolymer-treated soils. The results indicate that cyclic W–D and F–T gradually degrade soil strength owing to water adsorption and local biopolymer dilution. Poorly graded sand was highly vulnerable to these weathering effects; however, this problem was mitigated when the soil contained a fines content of 15–25%. These biopolymer-treated soils effectively resisted numerous cycles of both W–D and F–T, indicating that biopolymer-treated soils are suitable for earthen slope reinforcement.

Framework for field-scale application of molecular biological tools to support natural and enhanced bioremediation.

Microorganisms naturally present at environmental contaminated sites are capable of biodegrading, biotransforming, or removing contaminants in soil and groundwater through bioremediation processes. Cleanup strategies and goals for site remediation can be effectively achieved by bioremediation leveraging the capabilities of microorganisms to biotransform contaminants into lesser or non-toxic end products; however, reproducible success can be limited by inadequate design or performance monitoring. A group of biological analyses collectively termed molecular biological tools (MBTs) can be used to assess the contaminant-degrading capabilities and activities of microorganisms present in the environment and appropriately implement bioremediation approaches. While successful bioremediation has been demonstrated through previously described lab-scale studies and field-scale implementation for a variety of environmental contaminants, design and performance monitoring of bioremediation has often been limited to inferring biodegradation potential, occurrence, and pathways based on site geochemistry or lab-scale studies. Potential field-scale application of MBTs presents the opportunity to more precisely design and monitor site-specific bioremediation approaches. To promote standardization and successful implementation of bioremediation, a framework for field-scale application of MBTs within a multiple lines of evidence (MLOE) approach is presented. The framework consists of three stages: (i) "Assessment" to evaluate naturally occurring biogeochemical conditions and screen for potential applicability of bioremediation, (ii) "Design" to define a site-specific bioremediation approach and inform amendment selection, and (iii) "Performance Monitoring" to generate data to measure or infer bioremediation progress following implementation. This framework is introduced to synthesize the complexities of environmental microbiology and guide field-scale application of MBTs to assess bioremediation potential and inform site decision-making.

Pore-scale bubble population dynamics of CO2-foam at reservoir pressure

The flow of CO2 foam for mobility control in porous media is dictated by the foam texture, or bubble density, which is commonly expressed as the number of bubbles per unit of flowing gas. In most high-pressure laboratory studies of foam in porous media, the local foam texture cannot be determined due to opaque flow systems. Here, we unlock real-time foam texture dynamics at high pressure (100 bar) by utilizing a realistic pore network with an extended field of view. We identified snap-off as the dominant foam generation mechanism, with additional fining of foam texture caused by backward foam propagation. Foam coalescence during continuous CO2 injection resulted in large gas channels parallel to the general flow direction that reduced the overall foam apparent viscosity. A large fraction of the CO2 foam remained trapped (Xt > 0.97) and stationary in pores to divert CO2 flow and increase sweep efficiency. The gas mobility was calculated from the fraction of trapped bubbles at the pore-scale, and the apparent foam viscosity agreed with similar injection test performed at core-scale. Hence, improved understanding of CO2 foam texture evolution (nf) can strengthen the validation of numerical foam models for upscaling of flow phenomena, instrumental in the development of field scale implementation of CO2 foam for in carbon utilization and storage applications.

Modeling, simulation and analysis of groundwater flow captured by the horizontal reactive media well using the cell-based smoothed radial point interpolation method

The Horizontal Reactive Media Treatment (HRX) well is a novel technology for in situ treatment of contaminated groundwater. The most significant technical performance risk associated with field-scale implementation of the HRX well is the potential for water to bypass the well untreated. Therefore, the groundwater capture simulation plays a very important role in the design of the HRX well. We build a model based on a cell-based smoothed radial point interpolation method (CS-RPIM) for simulating groundwater flow captured by the HRX well in both 3D test pit pilot scale and field scale. This method is compared with the finite element method and measured values. Capture width and groundwater velocity obtained by CS-RPIM are consistent with the measured values. We further develop MATLAB software modules to analyze the effects of the hydraulic conductivities, dimension of well and other parameters on the groundwater capture zone, velocity and residence time in the reactive media. The results show that increase of well diameter has a significant effect on enlargement of the capture zone and the extension of media treatment time. When well diameter increases by 100%, horizontal and vertical capture width increase by 57% and 50% respectively, and media treatment time can be extended by 68%.

The Static Laboratory Testing for Fracturing Fluid Optimization

Hydraulic fracturing operation is the common method to stimulate an oil well in order to make the permeability around the well become higher by injecting a mixing of fracturing fluid and proppant. Hopefully, this higher permeability can contribute to increase the production of oil and/or gas. The fundamental laboratory assessment of fracturing fluid as a part of injected component is important to be conducted before field scale implementation. One of the fundamental assessment is the static laboratory testing. In this test, the fracturing fluid sample is measured to obtain the data about its properties such as water quality, rheology, crown time and breaking time. These properties give important role to calculate the performance of the hydraulic fracturing field scale operation would be. In this research, we conducted the static laboratory testing for fracturing fluid in sensitivity of concentration which are 35, 40 and 45 systems. Every concentration have been measured its properties in order to compare each other to evaluate and select best fracturing fluid candidate for field scale application.

A Sustainable Approach for the Production of Green Energy With the Holistic Treatment of Wastewater Through Microbial Electrochemical Technologies: A Review

With the plausible depletion of fossil fuels in the near future and its associated environmental impacts, researchers have instigated the search for eco-friendly renewable bioenergy. Moreover, the increase in water pollution by industrial and anthropogenic activities is another alarming global concern. In this regard, the production of renewable and sustainable green bioenergy utilizing wastewater through microbial electrochemical technologies (METs) can alleviate these crucial problems by providing a sustainable solution to meet both the demands of energy and fresh water supply. Moreover, different bio-centered techniques such as nitrification and denitrification for nitrogen removal, and elimination of carcinogenic metals, pathogens, and organic components utilizing microbiota followed by toxicity sensing of different pollutants have been efficaciously exhibited through METs. However, inferior bioenergy production and recovery of low biomass yield in METs with high operational cost are noteworthy bottlenecks that hinder the scalability of this technology. Therefore, this review elaborates different physicochemical factors affecting the performance of METs, microbial interaction for the development of stable biofilm and so forth. Moreover, a broad overview on the production of bioenergy, along with the removal of pollutants from wastewater through different types of METs are also highlighted. Furthermore, the production of biofuels like ethanol, methanol, biodiesel, and gaseous fuel like bio-H2 coupled with power generation using photosynthetic microorganisms via CO2 sequestration through METs are also discussed. Additionally, recent developments with future scope for the field-scale implementation of METs along with their bottlenecks have been discussed, which has not been critically reviewed to date.

Bacterial signalling mechanism: An innovative microbial intervention with multifaceted applications in microbial electrochemical technologies: A review

Microbial electrochemical technologies (METs) are a set of inventive tools that generate value-added by-products with concomitant wastewater remediation. However, due to the bottlenecks, like higher fabrication cost and inferior yield of resources, these inventive METs are still devoid of successful field-scale implementation. In this regard, application of quorum sensing (QS) mechanism to improve the power generation of the METs has gained adequate attention. The QS is an intercellular signalling mechanism that controls the bacterial social network in its vicinity via the synthesis of diffusible signal molecules labelled as auto inducers, thus ameliorating yield of valuables produced through METs. This state-of-the-art review elucidates different types of QS molecules and their working mechanism with the special focus on the widespread application of QS in the field of METs for their performance enhancement. Thus, this review intends to guide the researchers in rendering scalability to METs by integrating innovative QS mechanisms into them.

Site application of biopolymer-based soil treatment (BPST) for slope surface protection: in-situ wet-spraying method and strengthening effect verification

Recently, environmentally friendly biological soil treatment approaches have been proposed to enhance the geotechnical engineering properties of soils. Biopolymer-based soil treatment (BPST) has been verified by extensive laboratory-scale studies as an effective ground improvement method and suggested as a new reinforcing approach for levee slope owing to its soil strengthening and vegetation promotion. However, the BPST performance and governing factors in field applications have not been thoroughly understood owing to the lack of field-scale research. In this study, a BPST field application was conducted using a wet-type soil spraying method. Biopolymer binders and site soil were mixed and sprayed for slope surface protection following the general procedure of seed spraying. The in-situ application performance and effects of implementation factors such as biopolymer phase (dried powder and prehydrated solution), prior mixing time before spraying and residue mixing time during spraying, and biopolymer recipes were assessed by comparing the unconfined compressive strengths of in-situ samples collected during site spraying and uniformly mixed samples prepared in the laboratory. The solution form of the biopolymer was advantageous for a better quality (similar to the laboratory-scale performance with uniformity) when it was priorly mixed for at least 20 min at a mixing volume of 1 m3. The field-scale implementation and quality analysis of the biopolymer-based binder in this study can contribute to narrowing the gap between field and laboratory performances and qualities.

Subsurface transport of carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC)-stabilized nanoscale zero valent iron (nZVI): Numerical and statistical analysis

Subsurface remediation using nanoscale zero valent iron (nZVI) is a promising in-situ technology that can transform certain groundwater contaminants into non-toxic compounds. However, field scale implementation of nZVI technology has faced major challenges due to poor subsurface mobility, limited longevity and well clogging, all leading to a shorter nZVI travel distance. This distance nZVI travels in the subsurface is an important parameter since it influences the amount of contaminants that can be reached and thereby remediated. There are several factors which may affect nZVI travel distance such as groundwater velocity, injection concentration and rate, lag period (duration when nZVI injection is stopped), solution viscosity, and subsurface heterogeneity. Although various studies have been performed to reveal the effect of different factors on nZVI transport in homogeneous domains, few studies have focused on heterogeneous media, which is more representative of field conditions. In this study, a statistical analysis was performed using a two-dimensional numerical model which simulated carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) stabilized nZVI transport in randomly distributed soil permeability fields of two aquifers to examine the factors that have the greatest impact on nZVI travel distance. Among all possible factors, field scale solution viscosity and injection rate had a statistically significant effect on nZVI travel distance in both the horizontal and vertical directions, as well as, on the attached mass. Additionally, the lag period between injections had a statistically significant effect on the attached mass, but not the travel distance. These results suggest that having a long injection period followed by a short lag phase during field deployment may result in less nZVI attachment. Lastly, aquifer heterogeneity impacted the nZVI spread while the impact of intrinsic groundwater velocity and injection concentration was found not to be statistically significant. Results from this numerical study can aid in field-scale CMC-nZVI injection by identifying key factors for remediation optimization.

The influence of electrokinetic bioremediation on subsurface microbial communities at a perchloroethylene contaminated site.

There is an increased interest in finding remedies for contamination in low permeability and advection-limited aquifers. A technology applicable at these sites, electrokinetic-enhanced bioremediation (EK-BIO), combines traditional bioremediation and electrokinetic technologies by applying direct current to transport bioremediation amendments and microbes in situ. The effect of this technology on the native soil microbial community has only been previously investigated at the bench scale. This research explored the influence of EK-BIO on subsurface microbial communities at a field-scale demonstration site. The results showed that, similar to the findings in laboratory studies, alpha diversity decreased and beta diversity differed temporally, based on treatment phase. Enrichments in specific taxa were linked to the bioaugmentation culture and electron donor. Overall, findings from our study, one of the first field-scale investigations of the influence of electrokinetic bioremediation on subsurface microbial communities, are very similar to bench-scale studies on the topic, suggesting good correlation between laboratory and field experiments on EK-BIO and showing that lessons learned at the benchtop are important and relevant to field-scale implementation. KEY POINTS: • Microbial community analysis of field samples validates laboratory study results • Bioaugmentation cultures and electron donors have largest effect on microbial community.

Co-optimizing water-alternating-carbon dioxide injection projects using a machine learning assisted computational framework

In this article, a robust machine-learning-based computational framework that couples multi-layer neural network (MLNN) proxies and a multi-objective particle swarm optimizer (MOPSO) to design water-alternating-carbon dioxide injection (CO2-WAG) projects is presented. The proposed optimization protocol considers various objectives, including oil recovery and CO2 storage volume. Expert MLNN systems are trained and employed as surrogate models of the high-fidelity compositional simulator in the optimization workflow. When multiple objective functions are considered, two approaches are employed to treat the objectives: the weighted sum method and the Pareto-front-based scheme. A field-scale implementation focusing on tertiary recovery in the Morrow B formation at Farnsworth Unit (FWU) is presented. The developed Pareto-optimal solutions indicate the maximal available oil production can be 1.64 × 107 barrels and maximal carbon storage can achieve 2.35 × 107 tons. Trade-offs factor is defined to divide the constructed Pareto front into 4 sections with the trade-off factors’ value ranges from 0.35 to 49.9. This work also compares the optimum solution found by the aggregative objective function and the solution repository covered by the Pareto front that considers the physical and operational constraints and reduces uncertainties involved by the multi-objective optimization process. Our comparison indicates multiple solutions exist to satisfy the objective criteria of the WAG design, and these results cannot be found using the traditional weighted sum method. The Pareto front solution can provide more options for project designers, but decisions regarding necessary trade-offs must be made using the solution repository to balance the project economics and CO2 storage amount.

Machine-Learning-Assisted Closed-Loop Reservoir Management Using Echo State Network for Mature Fields under Waterflood

Summary Closed-loop reservoir management (CLRM) consists of continuous application of history matching and optimization of model-predictive control to maximize production or reservoir net present value (NPV) in any given period. Traditional field-scale implementation of CLRM by using a large number of reservoir models, in particular when uncertainty is accounted for, is computationally impractical. This presented machine-learning-assisted workflow uses the echo state network (ESN) coupled with an empirical water fractional flow relationship as a proxy to replace time-consuming simulations and improve the computational efficiency of the CLRM. The ESN, under the paradigm of reservoir computing, provides a specific architecture and supervised learning principle for recurrent neural networks (RNNs). ESNs, with randomly generated and invariant input weights and recurrent weights, greatly minimize the computational load and solve potential problems during typical backpropagation through time in traditional RNNs while it still obtains the benefits of RNNs to memorize temporal dependencies. Also, the linear readout layer makes the training much faster using analytical ridge regression. Field-level well control and production-response data are fed into the workflow to obtain a trained ESN and fitted fractional-flow relationship, which will represent/reproduce the dynamics of the reservoir under various well-control scenarios. Further production optimization is directly applied to the matched models to maximize reservoir NPV. The optimized well-control scenario is applied, and further observation is obtained to update the models. History matching and production optimization are performed again in a closed-loop fashion. The previously mentioned advantages make ESN a very powerful tool for CLRM, with both history matching and production optimization quickly accomplished, and make near-real-time CLRM possible. In this paper, two case studies will be presented to prove the effectiveness of the proposed workflow.

Numerical Analysis of the Gob Stress Distribution Using a Modified Elastic Model as the Gob Constitutive Model

Numerical modelling-based design and stability analyses outcomes of longwall structures critically depend on a reliable simulation of the effect of the gob compaction process. The approaches available for modelling of the gob behaviour are either oversimplification of the actual phenomenon or too complicated. In this paper, a modified elastic model along with its algorithm was developed to simulate the strain hardening behaviour of the gob material. The proposed approach was implemented in the finite difference-based code—FLAC3D through single-element model, and its applicability was validated by comparing the model response with the laboratory-validated theoretical gob compaction model. The proposed approach can be implemented in any numerical modelling code using only three input parameters: initial modulus, density and maximum strain. Plane strain models of two longwall workings: one supercritical and the other subcritical, were constructed for its field-scale implementation to compare its findings with theoretical and field observations of the maximum surface subsidence. The modelling results of the gob stress redistribution were also verified against the findings in the literature. The study shows that the load transfer distance critically depends on the geological conditions of the overlying strata in addition to the depth of cover. The model observed profiles of abutment stress decay and the peak abutment stress of the two cases were in line with the field observations in typical geo-mining conditions in India.

A feasible scale-up production of Sporosarcina pasteurii using custom-built stirred tank reactor for in-situ soil biocementation

Production of urease enzyme from ureolytic bacteria (e.g. Sporosarcina pasteurii ) is essential for precipitation of CaCO 3 . This bioprocess is notably utilized for soil improvement, biocementation and bioremediation of heavy metals. Despite the viability for field-scale implementation as a suitable alternative to conventional treatment methods, most reports in the literature are constrained to laboratory-scale. Thus, this study demonstrates an economic strategy to scale-up the production and cultivation of ureolytic bacteria using a custom-built stainless steel stirred tank reactor (3 m 3 ). Scalability of the bacterial cells was carried out from 214 L to 2400 L seed cultures for 90 h. Technical-grade ingredients (food-grade yeast extract media and chemicals) were used for scale-up production of the bacterial cells. The growth profile, pH and urease activity were subsequently monitored throughout the in-situ production period. Biocementation on sand mould specimens was also performed using bacterial cultures obtained from the reactor and low-grade cementation reagents. The sand columns were grouped into different treatment cycles to determine the effect of ureolysis. CaCO 3 content, effluent pH and microstructural analyses (scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy) of the treated soil samples were also evaluated. The results show that scale-up production of ureolytic bacteria cells under non-sterile conditions using a custom-built reactor for industrial MICP application is feasible. • A custom-built reactor (3 m 3 ) was used to cultivate Sporosarcina pasteurii. • Urease activity was 11.1 ± 0.48 mM urea hydrolysed min −1 at the end of cultivation. • CaCO 3 content for treated mould samples ranged from 19.0 ± 1.58% to 39.4 ± 1.88%. • SEM analysis showed irregular, elemental rhombohedral and polyhedral CaCO 3 crystals.