Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1
Department of Soil Sciences, Faculty of Soil and Water Engineering, Gorgan, University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Gorgan, Iran
2
Assistant Professor, Department of Soil Sciences, Faculty of Soil and Water Engineering, Gorgan, University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Gorgan, Iran
Abstract
The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of various active carbon weights (100 and 150 g)and sizes (0.3, 1.5 and 4 mm) on the remediation of soil hydrocarbon pollution and monitor the negative impacts of petroleum hydrocarbons on parameters such as C/N, electrical conductivity (EC) and hydrophobicity of aggregates in petroleum polluted soil. This pilot study was conducted over 60 days as a split-plot in time experiment based on a completely randomized design with three replicates and included seven treatments (W100S0.3, W100S1.5, W100S4, W150S0.3, W150S1.5, W150S4, C), in which w and s indicated active carbon weight (g) and size (mm), respectively. The results showed that the application of active carbon at smaller sizes resulted in a significant decrease in the concentrations of C, N, C/N, pH, and total petroleum hydrocarbons )TPH(.. Active carbon treatment with 150 g weight and 0.3 mm size was the most effective treatment in TPH biodegradation, reduction of organic carbon content and C/N ratio in the polluted soil. Also, this treatment decreased aggregate hydrophobicity and dispersible clay percentage by TPH degradation.
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