PROGRESS OF TOTAL PETROLEUM HYDROCARBONS (TPHs) TREATED WITH BIOSOLVENT IN A SIMULATED OIL SPILL ON SANDY BEACH MICROCOSMS

摘要

Experiments with microcosms of sand corresponding to high, mid and low intertidal area were contaminated with crude oil and treated with biosolvent. Two treatments were done. The first (treatment 1) treating the sand 5 days before the event of contamination and the second (treatment 2) treated immediately after the contamination. The degradation of total TPH after 90 days ranged from 44 to 78%. However, the first 10 days were very important in terms of degradation and it slowed down significantly until 90 days. The degradation rate for light fractions in treatment 1 was slightly slower than treatment 2. On the other hand, for heavier fractions the degradation rate of heavier fractions in treatment 1 was at least twice as faster than treatment 2. Implicating that pre-treating the samples with biosolvent some days before the event of contamination may accelerate the degradation process of heavier fraction that are more difficult to degrade. The biosolvent used was degraded in a range from 55 to 100% showing that the biosolvent employed was biodegradable.