Laboratory scale bioremediation of petroleum-contaminated soil by indigenous microorganisms and added Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain Spet.

The bioremediation of petroleum-contaminated soil was investigated at laboratory scale, using three different approaches. The first approach comprised biostimulation of indigenous microorganisms. The second approach involved combination of biostimulation of indigenous microorganisms and bioaugmentation by inoculation with free cells of petroleum degrading Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain Spet. The third was a variation of the second, in which inoculation with encapsulated cells in starch and sodium alginate of P. aeruginosa strain Spet was applied. The bioremediation of the original hydrocarbon-contaminated soil (3.5% dry weight) and that of diluted with clean natural soil at 1:1 w/w were investigated. By providing sufficient moisture, nutrients and aeration by stirring in the original contaminated soil, total concentration of n-alkanes was reduced by 94% after 191 days of treatment and total concentration of 16 polycyclic aromatic compounds by 79%, while for the 1:1 diluted soils biodegradation reached 89% and 79%, respectively. The results showed that bioaugmentation with free or encapsulated P. aeruginosa cells and/or soil dilution had no significant effect on biodegradation.

Leaching of VOCs from cement-based stabilized/solidified refinery oily sludge using solid phase microextraction.

Cement-based Stabilization/Solidification was applied to refinery oily sludge. Zero Headspace Extraction was employed for the investigation of the leaching behavior of volatile organic compounds from untreated and stabilized/solidified oily sludge in water. A method is described combining zero headspace extraction, solid phase microextraction and gas chromatography with flame ionization detector for determination of volatile organic compounds in aqueous leachates. For stabilization/solidification of the waste, two types of cement were used, I42.5 and II42.5. The I42.5 is a Portland Cement whereas the II42.5 is a Blended Cement, which contains pozzolanic material. In general, the I42.5 cement showed better immobilizing characteristics than the II42.5 cement, but the difference was small. The leaching behavior of toluene, o-xylene, p,m-xylene and ethylbenzene from stabilized/solidified samples was similar for both types of cement. The reduction in the maximum leached amount of stabilized/solidified specimens compared with that of the untreated oily sludge alone, varied from 80% to 98%, for specimens with 10% cement addition (both types). Increased leaching was observed with increasing cement addition. In the case of naphthalene, stabilized/solidified samples leached more than threefold the amount leached from the untreated oily sludge alone.