Prediction of landfarming period using degradation kinetics of petroleum hydrocarbons: test with artificially contaminated and field-aged soils and commercially available bacterial cultures

Purpose

This study predicts the optimal landfarming period for the total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs)-contaminated field soils that are subject to the combined landfarming and Fenton oxidation treatment.

Materials and methods

The TPHs degradation in the artificially contaminated model soils and the field-aged contaminated soils were compared in a laboratory scale. The soils were bioaugmented with the 16 petroleum hydrocarbon-degrading microbial cultures that are commercially available in Korea.

Results and discussion

The TPHs degradation by bioaugmentation in the model soils was 81?±?2% after 56 days, while it was only 27?±?2% after 74 days in the field-aged soils. The lower degradation in the field-aged soils can be attributed to the removal of a large part of the biodegradable and volatile TPHs fractions during the weathering process. The two-compartment model that can depict a fast-degradation phase followed by a slow-degradation phase predicted that the remedial goal of 475 mg kg^?1 of TPHs could be achieved in the model soils within the conventional landfarming period of 60–120 days in Korea; however, the predicted period for the field-aged soils (710–4,086 days) was not practical requiring a combined biological and chemical treatment approach. Based on the kinetics study, the optimal landfarming period for the field-aged soils was 3 weeks and pre-Fenton oxidation can be used to meet the remedial goal.

Conclusions

The two-compartment model can be useful for predicting landfarming period for the combined landfarming and Fenton oxidation treatment of field-aged TPHs contaminated soils. The prediction of the optimal landfarming period could lead to the reduction in both the treatment cost and period.