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Abstract
Physical, chemical and biological parameters were optimized during composting to enhance degradation of oil sludge. Mixtures of oil sludge, garden soil, poultry manure and the bulking agents were co-composted in static piles of about 1 m3 on wooden pallets overlaid with nylon fibre sheets. Temperature, moisture, electrical conductivity (EC), pH, total carbon, total N, heterotrophs and respiration of compost microorganisms were monitored in each pile. Moisture was maintained at between 60 and 70% field capacity. Temperatures reached a mean of 63°C in the compost containing manure and sawdust. The C:N ratio of composts changed significantly during the composting process, reaching 100:41 (sawdust+manure) 100:39 (hay+manure) and 100:31 (woodchips+manure). Respiration of compost organisms rose from 1490 to 3850 CO2 (µg)/dwt/day in the sawdust+manure compost. Total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) decreased by between 52 and 66% in the composts and concentrations of selected polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) by between 78 and 100%. The Bacillus, Pseudomonas, Arthrobacter and Staphylococcus species were predominant in all the experiments and all temperature regimes. Key words: Bulking agents, compost bioremediation, crude oil sludge, microorganism, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH).
Highlights
Large amounts of liquid effluents and solid wastes are generated from different stages in the petroleum refining process
The manure amended woodchips compost was slower in Total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) reduction compared to sawdust and hay composts, despite the higher aeration probably due to slow rate of breakdown of wood material used for bulking
Results of analyses of selected polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) showed that the phenols and the low molecular weight PAHs were removed in all the experiments
Summary
Large amounts of liquid effluents and solid wastes are generated from different stages in the petroleum refining process. These including waste waters from cleaning processes and storage tank sediments (Shie et al, 2004; Wang et al, 2010; Mandal et al, 2012). The resulting waste is a viscous oily sludge containing high amounts of petroleum derived hydrocarbons, including alkanes and paraffins of 1-40 carbon atoms, cycloalkanes, aromatic compounds with different numbers of benzene rings Oil sludge from crude oil storage tanks typically consist of sulphides, phenols and heavy metals along with petroleum based hydrocarbons of the aliphatic and aromatic type in very high concentrations.
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