Degradation of Petroleum Fractions in Soil Under Natural Environment: A Gravimetric and Gas Chromatographic Analysis

Abstract

The modern civilization depends on exploration, distribution and use of petroleum and thousands of products derived from it. The environment all throughout the world has been very badly damaged due to these chemicals. While pollution of the atmosphere has been caused almost totally by burning of the petroleum products, the leaks, spillages and accidental fallout of petroleum products and the crude petroleum itself have greatly affected land and water resources. The oil field areas always receive a large amount of effluents rich in crude oil and land degradation is a common phenomenon. While using different fractions of petroleum (gasoline, kerosene, diesel etc.) spills and leakages cannot be avoided and in industrial areas, garages and other places, a large amount of it flows to the nearby areas. All types of oil have amazing spreading power and once a leak occurs, the oil may spread horizontally as well as vertically depending upon soil conditions, moisture, temperature etc. The lighter fraction being volatile are easily removed by evaporation and other physical processes, but the heavy components such as aromatics – simple and polycyclic, Hopanes etc. remain in the soil for a very long time unless biodegraded by soil micro organisms. The detection of presence of some carcinogenic hydrocarbons viz. PAH has made the situation a matter of serious concern. In most cases; the pollutant oil exerts its detrimental effects before it degrades into harmless and simple compounds. Hence a study on the type of degradation mechanism, the measures which can expedite the process of bioremediation and how the soil parameters are influenced by oil pollutants and their degradation is demanded by situation. The present investigation intends to gains some true knowledge on the matter based on experimental findings.