M.S. Kuyukina, I.B. Ivshina, M.A. Osipenko, O.A. Korostina, and Y.I. Nyashin (Russia)
Crude oil-contaminated soil washing, Rhodococcus biosurfactant, mathematical modelling, filtration theory
Crude oil extraction and transport are often accompanied by environmental contamination. In the present years methods of biological remediation of oil-contaminated soils gain increasing popularity due to their environmental safety. Effective and ecologically safe bacterial surfactants produced by Rhodococcus strains, which were isolated from oil-extraction areas in Perm region, were developed. The biosurfactants produced are successfully applied in ex/in situ technologies of oil-contaminated soil bioremediation. Since soil bioremediation is an extremely complex process involving physical, chemical and biological factors, there is an obvious need for appropriate mathematical model adequately describing effects of various factors (e.g. biosurfactant) on this process. In the present study a mathematical model of oil-contaminated soil washing process using Rhodococcus-biosurfactant is developed, which allows estimation of field-scale soil washing efficiency on the base of laboratory data on biosurfactant filtration through oil-contaminated soil column. Theoretically estimated soil washing parameters are compared with field experimental data.
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