No abstract

After the contamination of an aquifer by petroleum products, the residual oil trapped is a constant source of pollution by the entrainment of the most soluble hydrocarbons. By studying the exchanges of residual hydrocarbons between oil-water-air and soil, we pointed out that the liquid/gas exchange is the major factor of retention of soluble alkanes masking the adsorbing materials effects. For the soluble aromatic hydrocarbons, the main phenomenon observed is the liquid/solid exchange. The role of residual air is no more preponderant. The residual contamination of the vadose zone thus plays a preponderant role in the long-term pollution of a groundwater table. It is thus imperative to implement methods to prevent such harmful effects. The use of surfactants, by lowering the oil/water interfacial tension seems to be a new and effective method. Their adsorption into a natural matrix was studied with different porous substrates (sand, sand/silt). Their retention on sand is poor, but it increases with silt content. This is mainly due to a cationic exchange (Ca2+/Na+). In order to avoid this phenomenon a salt preflush by a 10 g/l Na Cl solution is effective. That allows a gas-oil recovery enhancement by reducing loss of surfactant in soil. Moreover, a surfactant partition between oil and water is underscored. A better understanding of these parameters would lead to the optimizing of the enhanced drainage technique for recovering residual oil trapped in an aquifer.

Results of studies performed all around the world on bioremediation techniques are not often comparable because they have been performed through different methodologies. To address this problem, several organizations have combined their efforts to define a common methodology to assess bioremediation techniques’ efficiency through field experiments. To confirm the validity of this protocol, a 9 month experiment was performed on oiled plots on a sheltered estuarine beach in France. In this experiment, biodegradation efficiency was assessed though multiple analyses (chemical and microbiogical) including changes in chemical composition of the residual oil.