Treatment of world's largest and extensively hydrocarbon polluted environment: experimental approach and feasibility analysis

Abstract

This paper investigated approaches to treat the polluted groundwater in selected aquifers in Kuwait, which is the most extensive and second to none in terrestrial world case history. The selected aquifers are susceptible to pollution by oil spills during the first Gulf War. Experimental samplings of polluted soils were analysed. Results showed that granulated activated carbon is very effective in removing petroleum hydrocarbons from contaminated water. A pump-and-treat remediation scheme has been suggested for the affected parts of the freshwater fields. The cost estimates indicated that a treatment process involving carbon adsorption to remove petroleum hydrocarbons, followed by reverse osmosis to remove salt was highly likely to be the most cost-effective treatment system. The current treatment design and parametric costing approach can be applied elsewhere for the role of bioremediation in the treatment of petroleum contaminated environment, hazardous effects of petroleum hydrocarbon and genetic engineering in bioremediation.