Geotechnical properties of hydrocarbon-contaminated soils: a comprehensive review

Abstract

The geotechnical characteristics of hydrocarbon-contaminated soils have been concentrated heretofore due to the alarming frequency of hydrocarbon contaminations and also their significant consequences. Over the past three decades, numerous research studies have been conducted in order to investigate hydrocarbon-induced changes in geotechnical properties of soils. The present article is aimed at extensively reviewing almost all relevant academic literature to this subject, and, due to various kinds of soils and hydrocarbon compounds, it tries to provide a brief summary of each research study along with its key findings as well. By this review, it was revealed that geotechnical characteristics of soils such as particle size distribution, Atterberg limits, permeability, optimum moisture content, maximum dry density, compression index, coefficient of consolidation, over-consolidation ratio, cohesion, angle of internal friction, unconfined compression strength, shear strength, and so on can be remarkably influenced by hydrocarbon contaminations. However, the amount of these hydrocarbon-induced changes were highly dependent on various factors including soil and hydrocarbon properties, environmental and operation conditions, weathering process, etc. so that, for each specific geotechnical property, various alterations were reported in scientific literature.Response: With regard to this reviewer's comment ("years from old to new"), it should be stated that the authors used EndNote X8 software for organizing the references along with the specific EndNote style available in the journal's website (www.springer.com/earth+sciences+and+geography/engineering+geology/journal/1006 4?detailsPage) which determines/implements all the references automatically. However, the reference of UNEP was corrected throughout the manuscript.2. P5L31-32, why a symbol (a) here?Response: "Benzo (a) pyrene" was replaced by "benzo[a]pyrene". Benzo[a]pyrene is a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon with the formula of C20H12 which is one of the benzopyrenes, formed by a benzene ring fused to pyrene.3. P6L29-30, delete the term "by the authors" and "Precisely speaking" in L34.Response: These phrases were omitted. 4. P7L46-47, delete the sentence "Based on the information presented by Chang et al. (2014)" and add the referee (Chang et al. 2014) at the end of the sentence.Response: Thanks to this reviewer's comment, the mentioned phrase was deleted, and the relevant reference was embedded at the end of the paragraph. 5. P8L7-15, try to simply this long sentence here.Response: The long sentence was properly outlined. 6. P11L2-3, do not use the term "something along those lines." Response: The phrase was deleted. 7. P24, please number the equations and add () for the unit (%). Response: The number and parentheses were added. 8. P26L34-36, delete "see also," and replace (Jia et al. 2010) by (2010).Response: The mentioned corrections were implemented 9. P27L53-54, delete "see also," and the outer ().

Soil Bioremediation: Overview of Technologies and Trends

“…Energies 2020, 13, x FOR PEER REVIEW 4 of 25 interactions are dominant in such a soil type, characteristics such as texture, porosity, waxiness and cohesion are the most affected [22].…”

“…Among the major occurrences of contamination by hydrocarbons since 1900, blowout is the largest contributor to the amount of oil spilled into the environment. Blowout is an uncontrolled flow of hydrocarbon, gas, or water from an oil well due to some failure in its pressure control system, which is mainly caused by human error [22]. Contamination by oil hydrocarbons can occur even without human intervention.…”

“…Contamination by oil hydrocarbons can occur even without human intervention. Examples of this are tar pits or natural oil flows, where underground bitumen or oil rises to the surface, respectively [22].…”

“…In the case of coarse-grained soils, contamination can create hydrocarbon-coated particles and fill both macropores and micropores [24]. Since physical interparticle interactions are dominant in such a soil type, characteristics such as texture, porosity, waxiness and cohesion are the most affected [22].…”

Sorption behaviour of xylene isomers on biochar from a range of feedstock

“…thermal techniques) or some environmentally-unfriendly (chemical methods that consume large amounts of solvents) (Lim et al, 2016). In addition, hydrocarbons are firmly adsorbed to the organic matter within the heterogeneous structure of soil, and the complete removal of these compounds from the soil is not often feasible and rapidly achievable (Rajabi and Sharifipour, 2017, 2018a, b, 2019. These treatment technologies are also case-specific since their efficiencies are highly depended on the severity of crude oil contamination.…”