Bioremediation of Contaminated Clay Soils

This research work demonstrates the feasibility of accelerating bioremediation of a clay soil by supplementing with (nh4)2so4, kh2po4, sucrose (as an inducer for growth) and tween 80. the soil contained 7% residual gasoil. the bioremediation was stimulated by moisture adjustment to 10%, and inoculating with hydrocarbon degrading microorganisms. (nh4)2so4 and kh2po4 were added to the soil to obtain soil samples with c:n:p ratios of 100:1.4:1.4, 100:6.4:1.9, 100:11.4:2.4, and 100:21.4:3.4. the c:n:p of 100:11.4:2.4 resulted in more than 78% gasoil removal for duration of two months. tween 80, in the range of 0-20ml/ (kg soil), was added to the soil samples with c:n:p ratio of 100:1.4:1.4. more than 84% removal was achieved when 10 ml/kg tween 80 was added to the soil. sucrose, in the range of 0-20 g/(kg soil), was added to the soil samples with the c:n:p ratio of 100:1.4:1.4. for the sucrose level of 20 g/(kg soil), 79% removal was obtained in two months. additional experiment was also conducted at two porosity levels of 54% and 22%. the removal percentage in the soil with high porosity was almost twice as compared to soil with low porosity.