A rapid in situ respiration test for measuring aerobic biodegradation rates of hydrocarbons in soil

Journal Article · Thu Oct 01 04:00:00 EDT 1992 · Air and Waste; (United States)

OSTI ID:7028815

Hinchee, R E; Ong, S K ^[1]

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1. Battelle, Columbus, OH (United States)

A in situ test method to measure the aerobic biodegradation rates of hydrocarbons in contaminated soil is presented. The test method provides an initial assessment of bioventing as a remediation technology for hydrocarbon-contaminated soil. The in situ respiration test consists of ventilating the contaminated soil of the unsaturated zone with air and periodically monitoring the depletion of oxygen (O[sub 2]) and production of carbon dioxide (CO[sub 2]) over time after the air is turned off. The test is simple to implement and generally takes about four to five days to complete. The test was applied at eight hydrocarbon-contaminated sites of different geological and climatic conditions. These sites were contaminated with petroleum products or petroleum fuels, except for two sites where the contaminants were primarily polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Oxygen utilization rates for the eight sites ranged from 0.02 to 0.99 percent O[sub 2]/hour. Estimated biodegradation rates ranged from 0.4 to 19 mg/kg of soil/day. These rates were similar to the biodegradation rates obtained from field and pilot studies using mass balance methods. Estimated biodegradation rates based on O[sub 2] utilization were generally more reliable (especially for alkaline soils) than rates based on CO[sub 2] production, CO[sub 2] produced from microbial respiration was probably converted to carbonate under alkaline conditions. 14 refs., 5 figs., 4 tabs.

• OSTI ID: 7028815
• Journal Information: Air and Waste; (United States), Journal Name: Air and Waste; (United States) Vol. 42:10; ISSN AIWAE2
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020800* -- Petroleum-- Waste Management
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
540220 -- Environment
Terrestrial-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (1990-)
560300 -- Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
AEROBIC CONDITIONS
AROMATICS
BIODEGRADATION
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CONTAMINATION
DECOMPOSITION
ENERGY SOURCES
FIELD TESTS
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
HYDROCARBONS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
PETROLEUM
POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS
SOILS
TESTING