Biological oxidation of hydrogen in soils flushed with a mixture of H₂, CO₂, O₂and N₂

A stainless steel cylinder filled with soil was flushed upstream with a H2/CO2/air mixture. The consequence was a strong enrichment of the aerobic, autotrophic hydrogen-oxidising microflora, which reached densities enabling them to oxidize 84.5 ml H2· dm−2· h−1 in the first 25-cm layer. H2 concentration profiles, hydrogen uptake activity and cell numbers correlated well with each other. Most of the organisms isolated were dinitrogen fixers. Thus, soils containing hydrogen-oxidising bacteria may act as a biological shield between H2-rich environments and air, and may be utilized as biofilters, e.g., in the waste-processing industry.