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Short-term effects of simulated underground CO2 leakage on the soil microbial community
Received:December 06, 2016  
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KeyWord:CO2 geological storage leakage;simulation experiment;soil;microbial community;physicochemical properties;enzyme activity
Author NameAffiliationE-mail
ZHANG Wang-yuan School of Environment Science and Spatial Informatics, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221043, China  
ZHANG Shao-liang School of Environment Science and Spatial Informatics, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221043, China  
CHEN Fu School of Environment Science and Spatial Informatics, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221043, China
Coal-based CO2 Capture and Geological Storage Key Laboratory, Low Carbon Energy Institute, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221008, China 
 
HOU Hu-ping School of Environment Science and Spatial Informatics, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221043, China  
FENG Qi-yan School of Environment Science and Spatial Informatics, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221043, China  
MA Jing School of Environment Science and Spatial Informatics, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221043, China
Coal-based CO2 Capture and Geological Storage Key Laboratory, Low Carbon Energy Institute, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221008, China 
jingma2013@cumt.edu.cn 
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Abstract:
      The technology of CO2 Capture and Storage(CCS) has provided a new option for mitigating global anthropogenic CO2 emissions with its unique advantages. The potential risk of gas leakage from CO2 sequestration and utilization processes has been attracting a large amount of attention. In addition, the resulting threat to soil ecosystems cannot be ignored. In this paper, a simulation experiment was designed to investigate the effects of CO2 geological storage leakage on the soil microbial consortia, with fluvo-aquic soil as the research subject. A pressure relief valve and an adjustable flow meter were used to control the amount of CO2 injected into the soil during the experiment. By comparing soil physicochemical properties, enzyme activity, and microbial community diversity before and after stress treatments of different CO2 concentrations, some interesting results were obtained. The increase of soil CO2 concentration decreased the soil pH, and the maximum variation amplitude ranged from 8.15 to 7.29. Nitrate nitrogen average content varied from 1.01 mg·kg-1 to 4.03 mg·kg-1, whereas, both Olsen-phosphorus and organic matter contents changed significantly. The increase of soil CO2 concentration inhibited the activity of fluorescein diacetate(FDA) hydrolytic enzyme, with the average content varying from 22.69 mg·kg-1·h-1 to 11.25 mg·kg-1·h-1, whereas the activity of polyphenol oxidase enzyme increased by 230%. The urease activity also increased. The increase of soil CO2 concentration decreased the alpha diversity of the soil microbial community. The Chao1 index decreased and the Shannon index reduced from 7.35 to 6.23. Of the identified microorganisms, the abundance of Proteobacteria increased rapidly, with the proportion rising from 29% to 64%. However, the proportion of Acidobacteria decreased from 20% to 13.25%. On the genus level, the abundances of Methylophilus, Methylobacillus, and Methylovorus increased, whereas the abundances of Gp4, Gp6, and Gp7 decreased. Moreover, the abundances of other genera did not show obvious changes. The canonical correspondence analysis results showed that there was a correlation between the abundance variations of Proteobacteria and Acidobacteria and the increasing nitrate nitrogen, urease and polyphenol oxidase enzyme activities, as well as the decreasing FDA hydrolytic enzyme activity and Olsen-phosphorus and total phosphorus contents. These results might be useful for evaluating the risk of potential CO2 leakages on the ecosystems associated with CCS processes.