Title: Oil waste management through large scale landfarming: a case study

Authors: Leonardo Jordão Da Silva; Fernando J. S. Oliveira; Francisca Pessôa De França

Addresses: Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação, Esplanada dos Ministérios, Bloco E, Sala 589, 70067-900, Brasília, DF, Brazil ' Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. Gerência de Meio Ambiente, Centro, 20031-004, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil ' Escola de Química, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Av. Athos da Silveira Ramos, 149, 21941-909, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

Abstract: The operational activities of the oil industry generate solid waste containing several classes of hydrocarbons. Landfarming enables the treatment of large amounts of oil waste through the disposal of waste in the reactive soil layer and hydrocarbon biodegradation. The aim of the present study was to evaluate oil waste management in a 1,000 m² of landfarming area. The operational method used in the current investigation was biostimulation, including soil damping, fertilisation and aeration. In addition, a control cell was evaluated. To evaluate the performance of the proposed bioprocess, the moisture, total oil organic carbon, phosphorous, nitrogen, total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH), heterotrophic aerobic bacteria (HAB), total fungi and heterotrophic anaerobic bacteria (HNB) contents were monitored, and the pH of the landfarming area was determined. The results indicated that the THP content of the treated soil decreased by 89.6%. The HAB, total fungi and HNB content presented average values of 1.4×107, 2.6×105 CFU.g-1 and 2.2×106 Cells.g-1, respectively.

Keywords: oily sludge; landfarming; bioremediation; biodegradation; waste management; oil waste; farming; oil industry; solid waste; hydrocarbons; soil damping; fertilisation; aeration; waste disposal.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEWM.2013.053122

International Journal of Environment and Waste Management, 2013 Vol.11 No.3, pp.233 - 243

Published online: 20 Sep 2014 *

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