Poster: "Application of Bioremediation in Reducing the Content of Hydrocarbons in Soil Polluted from Fuel Oil"

Abstract

A big percentage of soil and water pollution comes from accidental spillage during exploitation, transport, processing, storage, and extensive use of petroleum. One of the technologies that are increasingly used in the world for the remediation of polluted environments, primarily soil, isbioremediation (use of non-pathogenic microorganisms that use organic pollutants as a source of nutrients).The main objective of this investigation was to answer whether it is possible in the applied conditions of bioremediation to successfully purify the soil contaminated with hydrocarbons from fuel oil? In this study, ex-situ bioremediation was performed on the soil from different areas in Serbia contaminated with waste oils from petroleum products. The ex-situ bioremediation process was performed at the BREM plant in Dobanovci (N 44°48′52.42″ E 20°13′13.08″). Bio-pile for bioremediation was made on a waterproof asphalt surface. Sampling was performed from the bio-piles before/and after bioremediation and from control bio-piles(without added microorganisms) and total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) were gravimetrically determined according to Beškoski et al. (2011). For the determination of petroleum hydrocarbons, gas chromatography (GC) was used. The content of TPH, obtained by the gravimetric method, forthe sample before bioremediation and the control sample was around 22%, while TPH content for the soil sample after bioremediation was 1.62%. The TPH content decreased by 92.9 % in the bioremediation process, while in the control sample it decreased by only 3.02%. GC-analysis showsa significant decrease, the content of hydrocarbons with 17C and 18C atoms (pristane and phytane). The applied bioremediation procedure has significantly reduced the TPH content, which indicates that the soil contaminated with fuel oil was successfully cleaned.