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Bioremediation Potential of Compost and Biochar On Total Hydrocarbon and Heavy Metals Concentration in Crude Oil Contaminated Soil
Subject area: Agriculture and Veterinary Sciences · Area of research: Environmental Soil Chemistry
Abstract
Crude oil contamination of soils in the Niger Delta has led to severe loss of soil fertility, reduced crop productivity and groundwater pollution. This study evaluated the bioremediation potential of compost (CP) and biochar (BC) on total hydrocarbon and heavy metals concentration in crude oil contaminated soil. Hydrocarbons can easily find their way to the soil’s ecosystem through a lot of sources. People living in oil-rich areas experience lots of oil pollution in their environment and this has been a major concern. The experiment was laid out in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with 9 treatments. The remediation materials compost and biochar were prepared on and offsite respectively. The soil was collected from Igbo-Etche following standard procedure. It was artificially contaminated with 200ml of Bonny light crude oil and allowed to stand for 10days. The amendments were applied in two (2) rates namely: 40tonnes/hectare and 100tonnes/hectares for biochar while compost was 60tonnes/hectare and 100tonnes/hectare. The moisture content of soil was maintained at field capacity for 60 days. All samples were transferred into appropriately labeled polyethylene bags and taken to the laboratory for analysis. The soil samples were spread out individually to air dry. This was followed by crushing which was done using a cylindrical crusher and sieving was done using a 2mm mesh size sieve. The result showed Zinc content in the soil increased significantly from 0.10mgkg-1 to 2.66mgkg-1 upon contamination. After amendment, BC1+CP0 had the lowest as 1.45mgkg-1. Copper content in the soil increased from 1.27mgkg-1 to 2.12mgkg-1. Treatment BC1+CP1 had 1.45mgkg-1 as the least. There was a significant difference (P<0.05) among treatment means. Iron content had significant difference (P<0.05) among treatment means. The study concluded that organic amendments significantly reduced THC and the studied heavy metals (Zn, Cu and Fe). However, THC reduction was highest in BC2+CP0 as 87.66mgkg-1. For heavy metals, biochar alone gave the least available Zn, while biochar + compost gave the least available Cu (BC1+CP1 – 1.58mgkg-1) and Fe (BC1+CP2 – 1.39mgkg-1) due to adsorption, complexation and pH increase. This confirms that organic amendments are effective for remediation of crude oil contaminated soils.
Keywords
Hydrocarbon, Amendment, Contamination, Biochar and Compost.
References
[1] Beesley L, Moreno-Jiménez E., and Gomez-Eyles J. L. (2010). Effects of biochar and greenwaste compost amendments on mobility, bioavailability and toxicity of inorganic and organic contaminants in a multi-element polluted soil. Environment. Pollution., 158 (6), pp. 2282-2287. ScienceDirect
[2] Chandola, D., & Rana, S. (2023). Biochar for Environmental Remediation. In Biochar - Productive Technologies, Properties and Applications. IntechOpen.
[3] Donna P. Clements, and Elizabeth A. Bihn, (2019) in Safety and Practice for Organic Food.
[4] Hassan J, Izadi M, & Homayonnejad S (2013). Application of low density homogeneous liquid – liquid extraction combined with GC for TPH and PAH determination in semi-micro solid samples. J. Braz. Chem. Soc. 24(4):639-644. Crossref
[5] Ikpe F. N., Ndegwe N. A., Gbaraneh L. D., Torunana J. M. A., William T. O. and Larba A. (2003). Effect of sheep brows diet on fecal matter decomposition and N and P cycling in the humid lowlands of West Africa. Soil Science 168. No. 9
[6] Khater, E. G. (2012). CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF COMPOST. Misr Journal of Agricultural Engineering, 29(4), 1567-1582. Misr Journal of Agricultural Engineering
[7] Kugbe, J., Quaye, A. K., Opoku, A., Fosu, M., & Yeboah E. (2021)
[8] Mekonnen, B. A., Aragaw, T. A. & Genet M. B. (2024), Bioremediation of petroleum hydrocarbon contaminated soil: a review on principles, degradation mechanisms, and advancements. Front. Environ. Sci. 12:1354422. Frontiers
[9] Okafor, U. C. (2023). Evaluation of the Impact of Crude Oil Contamination on Soil’s Physicochemical Characteristics, Micro-flora and Crop Yield. Tropical Aquatic and Soil Pollution, 3(1), 24–35. Tropical Aquatic and Soil Pollution
[10] Ross S. & Des C. (2003). Analytical Methods for the Determination of Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons in Soil. Proceedings of the Fifth National Workshop on the Assessment of Site Contamination. (p133-150) ISBN 0-642-32371-2.
[11] Ross S. & Des C. (2003). Analytical Methods for the Determination of Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons in Soil. Proceedings of the Fifth National Workshop on the Assessment of Site Contamination. ISBN 0-642-32371-2.
How to cite this paper
@article{1723600,
author = {Oyama, L. C., Ideriah T. J. K., Amaechi P. U.},
title = {Bioremediation Potential of Compost and Biochar On Total Hydrocarbon and Heavy Metals Concentration in Crude Oil Contaminated Soil},
journal = {Iconic Research And Engineering Journals},
year = {2026},
volume = {10},
number = {4},
pages = {147-157},
issn = {2456-8880},
url = {https://www.irejournals.com/formatedpaper/1723600.pdf},
abstract = {Crude oil contamination of soils in the Niger Delta has led to severe loss of soil fertility, reduced crop productivity and groundwater pollution. This study evaluated the bioremediation potential of compost (CP) and biochar (BC) on total hydrocarbon and heavy metals concentration in crude oil contaminated soil. Hydrocarbons can easily find their way to the soil’s ecosystem through a lot of sources. People living in oil-rich areas experience lots of oil pollution in their environment and this has been a major concern. The experiment was laid out in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with 9 treatments. The remediation materials compost and biochar were prepared on and offsite respectively. The soil was collected from Igbo-Etche following standard procedure. It was artificially contaminated with 200ml of Bonny light crude oil and allowed to stand for 10days. The amendments were applied in two (2) rates namely: 40tonnes/hectare and 100tonnes/hectares for biochar while compost was 60tonnes/hectare and 100tonnes/hectare. The moisture content of soil was maintained at field capacity for 60 days. All samples were transferred into appropriately labeled polyethylene bags and taken to the laboratory for analysis. The soil samples were spread out individually to air dry. This was followed by crushing which was done using a cylindrical crusher and sieving was done using a 2mm mesh size sieve. The result showed Zinc content in the soil increased significantly from 0.10mgkg-1 to 2.66mgkg-1 upon contamination. After amendment, BC1+CP0 had the lowest as 1.45mgkg-1. Copper content in the soil increased from 1.27mgkg-1 to 2.12mgkg-1. Treatment BC1+CP1 had 1.45mgkg-1 as the least. There was a significant difference (P<0.05) among treatment means. Iron content had significant difference (P<0.05) among treatment means. The study concluded that organic amendments significantly reduced THC and the studied heavy metals (Zn, Cu and Fe). However, THC reduction was highest in BC2+CP0 as 87.66mgkg-1. For heavy metals, biochar alone gave the least available Zn, while biochar + compost gave the least available Cu (BC1+CP1 – 1.58mgkg-1) and Fe (BC1+CP2 – 1.39mgkg-1) due to adsorption, complexation and pH increase. This confirms that organic amendments are effective for remediation of crude oil contaminated soils.},
keywords = {Hydrocarbon, Amendment, Contamination, Biochar and Compost.},
month = {October},
}