Biodegradation of Weathered Petroleum Hydrocarbons Using Organic Waste Amendments

Abstract

Extraction, transport, and processing of petroleum products have resulted in inadvertent contamination of soil. Various technologies have been proposed for removal of petroleum hydrocarbon contaminants, including biological techniques. Treatment of aged (weathered) petroleum compounds is challenging, as these wastes tend to be enriched with recalcitrant hydrocarbons. The purpose of the reported study was to investigate remediation of weathered petroleum via simulated landfarming using selected soil amendments. Soil contaminated by aged crude petroleum from well fields in the southern Zagros region in Iran was treated in combination with plant compost, papermill sludge, activated carbon, and molasses. Over 15 weeks, the greatest percentage removal (40%) of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) occurred in the molasses treatment, followed by a 29% reduction in the plant compost treatment. The degradation constant (k), produced by a kinetic model, demonstrated the performance of the molasses over the other treatments applied; experimental data adequately fitted into first-order kinetics (k = 0.005 d−1, t½ = 71 d). Benzene decomposition was greatest (77 and 74%) in the molasses and activated carbon treatments, respectively, and was lowest in the papermill sludge treatment (41%). FTIR analysis revealed loss of benzene in all treatments. Bacterial counts were highest (4.9 × 106 CFU/g) in the plant compost treatment and lowest (1 × 105 CFU/g) in the untreated oil-contaminated soil. Based on the findings of the current study, it is possible to successfully conduct landfarming of aged petroleum deposits; however, it is recommended that common and inexpensive amendments such as molasses and plant compost be used when feasible.

Bioremediation of total petroleum hydrocarbons in oil sludge-polluted soil using active carbon remediator

“…Active carbon can also eliminate the side effects of volatile and nonvolatile organic pollutions, even at high levels of concentration. Activated carbon limits the evaporation and leaching loss of TPHs due to their rapid and irreversible immobilization, which increase the availability of contaminants for biodegradation (Yousefi et al 2021). In the study of the biodegradation of petroleum hydrocarbons using organic adsorbents, Yousefi et al (2021) reported that activated carbon removed 74% of petroleum hydrocarbons over 15 weeks.…”

“…Moreover, the highest TPH biodegradation rate constant (0.0419 day −1 ) and lowest half-life (16.54 days) were observed in biostimulants + bioaugmentation treatment, which suggests that this treatment had the highest efficiency for TPH removal. Yousefi et al (2021) investigated the effect of plant compost, paper mill sludge, molasses and active carbon on petroleum degradation in the polluted soil collected from Sarvestan and Saadat abad oil field located in the south of Zagros, Iran, over 15 weeks. The results showed that TPH biodegradation kinetics was of first order, and degradation rate constant in molasses, paper mill sludge, plant compost and active carbon was 0.005, 0.004, 0.003 and 0.002 day −1 , with 71, 93, 107 and 139 days half-life, respectively.…”

Oil Palm’s Empty Fruit Bunch as a Sorbent Material in Filter System for Oil-Spill Clean Up

“…As the hydrocarbon contaminant is highly persistent with some toxicity packages, this can have long-term effects on many cold temperate species and further destroy the ecosystem. Thus, oil spills have created a great need for remediation efforts to be considered [ 10 , 11 , 12 ].…”