Evaluation of Cow-Dung Effectiveness for Bioremediation in Petroleum Polluted Loamy Soil Site

Abstract

The development of local nutrients to enhance remediation of petroleum polluted soil mediums motivated this study. The study therefore, aimed at evaluating effectiveness of cow-dung for bioremediation of petroleum polluted loamy soil environment in the Niger delta area. The study was conducted in two distinct criteria, that is, petroleum polluted loamy soil with no Cow Dung Nutrient (NN) and petroleum polluted loamy soil with cow-dung Nutrient (WN) mediums. The two experimental set-ups were mixed manually to obtain homogeneity of impaction. Average weight measuring 3.2 kg Loamy Soil, Cow-dung 0.5 kg with ranging petroleum volume 50-190 ml for time ranging from 0 to 32 days at intervals of 25 ml petroleum and 4 days exposure time were used in the evaluation study. The evaluation was carried out based on Total Petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) concentration CTPH as a function of petroleum quantity (v) discharged and exposure time (t). The results obtained showed that total petroleum hydrocarbon concentration (CTPH) increases with increase in the quantity of petroleum discharged at constant exposure time for both NN and WN. Similarly, the TPH concentration (CTPH) decreases with increase in exposure time at constant quantity of petroleum discharged. The TPH concentration (CTPH) shows rapid biodegradability with (WN) than those of (NN) indicating that Cow-dung is a good nutrient for bioremediation of polluted sites. In addition, generalized predictive models for the bio-simulation of TPH concentration (CTPH) as a function of petroleum physical properties, soil conductivity and cow dung mass for NN and WN are developed using Abowei modified Raleigh dimensional approach. The models showed that TPH concentration (CTPH) demonstrated density independency for NN and dependency for WN. The predictive models as developed are: