An Investigation of Presumptive Synergism of Oil Palm Bunch Ash and Sawdust Amendments in Remediation of crude oil Spiked Soil

Ejikeme Albert,Di Anyanwu

doi:10.4314/jasem.v20i1.9

Abstract

Presumed synergistic effect of combined amendment of crude oil spiked soil with oil palm bunch ash and sawdust was carried out in a laboratory experiment. Two kilogram (2 kg) of sandy soil was placed in each of five plastic vessels labeled TA, TB, TC, TD and TE. TA was left in its natural state while the others were each polluted with 6.7% v/w of crude oil. TB was not given any remediation amendment. TC and TD were each amended with 13.3% of oil palm bunch ash and sawdust respectively while TE was amended with 13.3% each of oil palm bunch ash and sawdust. The setups were replicated five times and watered twice weekly. Results showed that soil pH increased from 8.7±0.04 to 10.5±0.06, 5.3±0.01 to 8.5±0.04 and 5.6±0.18 to 11.5±0.15 for TC, TD and TE respectively. Percentage total petroleum hydrocarbon contents reduced by 65% for TC, TD and 52% for TE. Total organic carbon increased from 7.6±0.7 to 8.5±0.5%%, reduced from 4.0±0.1% to 3.7±0.3% and from 4.1±0.1% to 2.2±1.0% TC, TD and TE respectively. Total nitrogen increased from 0.66±0.1 to 0.69±0.0% for TC, remained nearly the same for TD and reduced from 0.4±0.0 to 0.2±0.0% for TE while average phosphorus increased from 0.4±0.0 to 23.0±4.2 mg/kg, 0.3±0.0 to 1.8±0.4 mg/kg and from 0.2±1.0 mg/kg to 52.6±4.6 mg/kg for TC, TD and TE respectively. Conclusively, combined amendment with oil palm bunch ash and sawdust did not induce synergism in soil total petroleum hydrocarbon content reduction. © JASEM

Highlights

The activities of the oil and gas industry in Nigeria’s Niger Delta has brought about widespread environmental pollution in the area
TB was left so after the crude oil treatment as such, it served as the control while TC and TD were further treated by thoroughly mixing the crude oil treated soil with 13.3% (w/w) oil palm bunch ash (OPBA) and 13.3% (w/w) of sawdust respectively
The results of TA and TB contradict the findings of BenkaCoker and Ekundayo (1995); Abii and Nwosu (2009) who reported no significant difference in soil pH of both crude oil polluted and unpolluted sites in Niger Delta, Nigeria

Summary

INTRODUCTION

The activities of the oil and gas industry in Nigeria’s Niger Delta has brought about widespread environmental pollution in the area. The problem of petroleum hydrocarbon environmental pollution in Nigeria’s Niger Delta cannot stop because the oil and gas mining activities still continues. There is dearth of report study on combined use of the materials for application in remediation petroleum hydrocarbon polluted soil. The findings from this study could widen our knowledge on the environmentally beneficial use of the materials for remediation and mitigation of petroleum hydrocarbon polluted soil. This knowledge could be useful for application by the local people for cleanup of small scale and not very severe cases of petroleum hydrocarbon spill especially as the materials are locally available

MATERIALS AND METHODS

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Conclusion