Biological treatment of Total Petroleum Hydrocarbon (TPH) in petroleum sludge

Biological treatment of Total Petroleum Hydrocarbon (TPH) in petroleum sludge
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Biological treatment of total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) in petroleum sludge
Introduction
Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons (TPH) is a mixture many chemical compounds that originate from crude oil. The composition of these compounds is mostly hydrogen and carbon, hence the name hydrocarbons. TPH are harmful environmental pollutants and include toxic compounds such as benzene, pyrene, toluene, xylene, naphthalene among other petroleum components (Udochukwu, Njoku-Tony & Nwachukwu, 2012). Long-term exposure of these hazardous pollutants to soil and/or water leads to hydrocarbon contamination and they can enter the environment through different ways. Udochukwu, Njoku-Tony and Nwachukwu report that these compounds can be released accidentally to the environment for instance through industrial releases, private or industrial by products (2012). Upon entering to the soil, TPH leads to soil degradation and infertility by causing deficiency in soil nutrients required for a healthy crop growth and also changes soil acidity. Moreover, TPH compounds can also contaminate drinking water. Therefore, this study was conducted to find out how TPH can be biologically treated to help eliminate its hazardous impacts to the environment.
Das and Chandran (2010) state that fungi, yeast and bacteria microorganisms naturally biodegrade hydrocarbons in the environment. They add that yeast species such as Candida maltose, Candida tropicalis as well as Candida apicola contain extraordinary enzymes which primarily rely on hydrocarbons such as TPH for carbon and energy. This dependence upon carbon and energy enables the microorganisms to biodegrade the hydrocarbon compounds contained in TPH and by so doing, they help to eliminate the pollutants from the environment.
This study focuses primarily on how naturally occurring bacteria biodegrade TPH in soils that have been contaminated with petroleum sludge. The focus on bacteria is because among the many microorganisms, bacteria are the ones most actively involved in the petroleum degradation processes, and some bacteria species purely feed on hydrocarbon compounds hence help in cleaning up areas with oil spills (Das & Chandran, 2010).
The research question
Is it possible to reduce environmental hydrocarbon contamination through biological treatment of TPH in petroleum sludge? If yes, how?
Oil spills and accidental leaks occur more often today primarily due to the many activities in the petrochemical industry such as oil exploration, production, refining, storage and even transportation. According to Das and Chandran, the entry of TPH compounds into the environment is the primary cause of soil and water pollution (2010). Currently, the main methods of eliminating TPH from the soil and water bodies is through methods such as burying and washing, which have proved to be much costly. For this reason, key stakeholders such as the petrochemical industry professionals and business leaders in this field as well governments have to explore other methods of removing these contaminants from the environment. One such method is through biological means.
Therefore, I stated this research question in order to learn and understand the possibility of applying biological technologies in removing TPH compounds from soils or water contaminated with petroleum sludge.
The context for the above question, why research is relevant
Most TPH harmful chemical compounds are released to the soil through industrial releases or as by products from factories. Moreover, these contaminants get to water bodies through spillages or leaks from oil vessels or refineries located off shore or along the coastline (Das & Chandran, 2010). In most cases, oil producing areas as well as communities surrounding oil fields and refineries are heavily affected by hydrocarbon pollution when petroleum products and/or waste get deposited or accidentally spilled in their environments. Long term exposure of these harmful compounds not only lead to soil degradation and water contamination, but also has an effect on health by causing nerve disorder.
This paper seeks to determine the possibility of applying biological means to eliminate soil and water contaminants that have come as a result of the activities of the petrochemical industry. Furthermore, it aims to learn the biological methods that can be applied to treat TPH in petroleum sludge. Research on this subject matter is therefore, extremely relevant.
Literature Review
Who has talked about this?
The issue of soil and water hydrocarbon contamination has been discussed and widely covered by different people and environmentalists. Ragheb et al. (n.d) have researched on the subject and found out that bacterial activities on petroleum sludge can remove hydrocarbon compounds on soil.
What did they do?
The objective of their research was to find out the effects of successive inoculation with hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria on the dynamics of petroleum hydrocarbons in soil. According to Ragheb et al. (n.d), petroleum sludge was used since it contains a mixture of hazardous hydrocarbons. Moreover, bacterial consortia consisting of alkanes and polycylic aromatic hydrocarbon degraders were developed from bacteria that had been isolated from soil and petroleum sludge. The bacterial consortia were then incorporated into incubated microcosms and observed in a 198-day incubation period.
What did they find?
Ragheb et al. (n.d) found out that incorporating the bacterial consortia led to reduction of TPH from soil by 30% at the 62nd day. Moreover, alkaline as well as aromatic and Asphaltic hydrocarbons were significantly removed from the soil by more addition of the bacteria. The researchers observed that at the end of the 198-day incubation period, the TPH concentration had been completely removed, and the soil was free from those harmful chemical compounds.
Place your view in discipline. Detail in opinion I agree or disagree with
The biological treatment of TPH for instance bioremediation involves the use of microorganisms to eliminate pollutants due to their extraordinary metabolic capabilities. Biodegradation is a form of bioremediation. The application of biodegradation using naturally occurring microorganisms is one way in which petroleum and other hydrocarbons can be cost-effectively eliminated from the environment (Das & Chandran, 2010). According to Das and Chandran, there are two methods to bioremediation. The first one is bioaugmentation and involves the addition of oil-degrading bacteria to help supplement the existing bacterial microorganisms. Another one is biostimulation whereby more nutrients are added to stimulate the growth of indigenous oil degrading microbial population (2010).
I do agree with the view that many environmentalists and others such as Das and Chandran hold, regarding the effectiveness and cost of biological hydrocarbon treatment compared to other methods. According to Das and Chandran (2010), the current technologies of soil remediation such as burying, evaporation or washing are much expensive and less efficient especially when the contamination has occurred on a large scale. I agree with them that the use of biological technology is by far cheaper and more effective compared to mechanical as well as chemical means.
Methodology and Data used
The experiment aimed at establishing the performance of microbial organisms in the degradation of TPH contained in petroleum sludge. The bioremediation process was conducted for an incubation period of six weeks. In this experiment, bacterial microorga...