Bioremediation of lubricant oil-contaminated sand using vermicompost tea and biopolymer
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Date
2024-08
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University of New Brunswick
Abstract
Bioremediation methods have garnered interest as environmental problems continue to rise. In the past decade, vermicomposting has become more important because it is intrinsically environmentally friendly. This study investigated the effectiveness of vermicompost tea and a biopolymer as flushing agents. Waste lubricant oil (WLO), which was the petrochemical hydrocarbon pollutant evaluated, was injected into a sand pack. Five displacement experiments were conducted. Vermicompost tea/biopolymer and tap water/biopolymer (baseline experiment) were injected into the contaminated sand pack following a pre-established injection sequence. The results showed that remediation using vermicompost tea/biopolymer removed 98% of the pollutant, while the baseline experiment removed a maximum of 81% of the contamination. Germination tests supported the positive effects of the sand reclaimed using vermicompost tea/biopolymer as flushing agent. Overall, this study demonstrated the effectiveness of vermicompost tea/biopolymer as a bio-flushing agent for the remediation of sand contaminated with a hydrocarbon derived pollutant.