Degradation Kinetics of an Aged Hydrocarbon-Contaminated Soil

• DOI: 10.1007/s11270-008-9965-8
• Publication Date: 2009-01-15T03:59:56Z
• Authors: Snežana Maletić; Božo Dalmacija; Srđan Rončević; Jasmina Agbaba; Olgica Petrović
• Keywords: Mineral oil; Total petroleum hydrocarbon; Degradation; Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon

This work presents kinetic parameters for the degradation of petroleum hydrocarbons, under field conditions found in a biopile created for the remediation of soil which has been heavily polluted with aged oil and oil derivatives (27,600 mg kg−1 of mineral oil, 41,400 mg kg−1 total hydrocarbons and 3.57 mg kg−1 of total polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, (PAH)). The kinetics of the biodegradation process can be described by two equations: $$\ln C = \ln C_0 - kt$$ (1) and $$\ln C = \ln C_0 - kt^{0.5} $$ (2). According to Eq. 1, biodegradation kinetics constant rates were in the range from 0.58 × 10−3 to 1.32 × 10−3 day−1 for mineral oil and total hydrocarbons and 6.7 × 10−3 to 8.8 × 10−3 day−1 for PAHs. According to Eq. 2, biodegradation kinetics constant rates were in the range from 1.6 × 10−2 to 3.0 × 10−2 day−0.5 for mineral oil and total hydrocarbons and 0.92 × 10−1 to 1.3 × 10−1 day−0.5 for PAHs.