Impact of compost amendments and operating temperature on diesel fuel bioremediation

Abstract

A laboratory study was conducted to investigate the performance of composting bioremediation of a sand material contaminated with diesel fuel and radio-labeled phenanthrene. The material was amended with either fresh feedstock material or finished compost and then incubated at either thermophilic or mesophilic temperatures for 126 d. In controls that were not amended with compost, no mineralization of 14 C phenanthrene was detected, whereas treatments that received compost amendments had significant phenanthrene mineralization, ranging from 25% to 42% of initial concentrations. The lowest extractable diesel range organic residual (1092 mg kg −1 total solids) was observed in the treatment receiving fresh compost amendment and incubated at thermophilic temperatures, whereas the highest residual (8507 mg kg −1 total solids) was observed in the control without any amendment. Whereas all the treatments that received amendment dramatically outperformed the control reactors, significant differences were observed among the treatment performances. This suggests that amendment type and operating temperature were important factors impacting bioremediation performance. Résumé :Une étude en laboratoire a été effectuée pour examiner le rendement de la biorestauration par compostage d'un matériel sableux contaminé par du carburant diesel et du phénanthrène radio-marqué. Le matériel a été modifié avec du substrat frais ou du compost fini, puis incubé à des températures thermophiles ou mésophiles pour 126 jours. Dans les groupes témoins non modifiés par du compost, aucune minéralisation du phénanthrène 14 C n'a été détectée, alors que les traitements recevant des amendements de compost ont présenté une minéralisation de phénanthrène importante, variant de 25 à 42 % des concentrations initiales. La plus faible concentration extractible de résidu organique diesel (1092 mg kg −1 ST) a été observée dans le traitement recevant un amendement de compost frais et incubé à des températures thermophiles, alors que la concentration résiduelle la plus élevée (8507 mg kg −1 ST) a été observée dans le groupe témoin sans aucun amendement. Alors que tous les traitements recevant un amendement ont très grandement surclassé les réacteurs témoins, il y avait des différences importantes entre les rendements de traitement. Cela suggère que le type d'amendement et la température de fonctionnement étaient des facteurs importants ayant un effet sur le rendement de la biorestauration.

Bioremediation of high organic load lagoon sediments: Compost addition and priming effects

“…Among bioremediation techniques, the use of compost addition or composting strategies for the treatment of contaminated soils (including contaminations from petroleum, hydrocarbons, monoand polyaromatic compounds, chlorophenols, explosives and pesticides) is a relatively recent concept, as it has been limited to the last 10-15 yr. Those techniques usually rely on the ability of stimulated prokaryotic and fungi communities to degrade xenobiotics (Semple et al, 2001;Hesnawl and McCartney, 2006;Plaza et al, 2009;Taccari et al, 2012 and reference therein). Up to now, compost has been used in agriculture, mixed with soil to provide nutrients and to improve fertility, as it can act as a stabilizer of the soil structure and as a source of nutrients for degrading microorganisms, and in bioremediation of soils that require stimulation of their microbial activity (Gandolfi et al, 2010).…”

Effects of compost stability and contaminant concentration on the bioremediation of PAHs-contaminated soil through composting

“…Thereby, the selected organic amendment for the bioremediation process should serve to improve and overcome any deficiencies or limitations that influence the process efficiency. One challenge with this type of research is that composting feedstock composition can vary widely from one facility to another; this can affect the chemical and microbial conditions in the amendments [11]. Bioremediation of contaminated soils using composting process depends on a number of physical, chemical, and biological factors that determine the microbial accessibility to the target contaminants [10,12,13], where the amendment properties are of great role in determining the process behavior.…”

Bioventing remediation and ecotoxicity evaluation of phenanthrene-contaminated soil

“…Margesin [30] reported a reduction in diesel-type hydrocarbon of 70% in a fertilised soil, from 2612 mg of hydrocarbons/kg of soil to 774 mg of hydrocarbons/kg of soil after 780 days, although it was under extreme climatic conditions in an alpine glacier. Sabaté [3] has reported a TPH decrease of 46% in 360 days, and Hesnavi [31] reported a mineralisation of phenanthrene rang- Fig. 5.…”