• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.62-70
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• 2009

A field soil highly contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons (JP-8 and diesel fuels) was employed for its remediation by a lab-scale thermal desorption process. The soil was collected in the vicinity of an underground storage tank in a closed military base and its contamination level was as high as 4,476 ppm as total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH). A lab scale directly-heated low temperature thermal desorption (LTTD) system of 10-L capacity was developed and operated for the thermal treatment of TPH contaminated soils in this study. The desired operation temperature was found to be approximately $200-300^{\circ}C$ from the thermal gravimetric analysis of the contaminated field soils. The removal efficiencies higher than 90% were achieved by the LTTD treatment at $200^{\circ}C$ for 10 min as well as at $300^{\circ}C$ for 5 min. As the water content in the soils increased and therefore they were likely to be present as lumps, the removal efficiency noticeably decreased, indicating that a pre-treatment such as field drying should be required. The analysis of physical and chemical properties of soils before and after the LTTD treatment demonstrated that no significant changes occurred during the thermal treatment, supporting no needs for additional post-treatments for the soils treated by LTTD. The results presented in this study are expected to provide useful information for the field application and verification of LTTD for the highly contaminated geo-environment.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.268-273
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• 2015

BACKGROUND: Petroleum-contaminated soil from leaking above- and underground storage tanks and spillage during transport of petroleum products is widespread environmental problem in recent years. Application of compost may be the most promising, cost-effective, and eco-friendly technology for soil bioremediation because of its advantages over physical and chemical technology. The objective of this study was to evaluate effect of compost application on degradation of total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) in petroleum hydrocarbon-contaminated soil.METHOD AND RESULTS: An arable soil was artificially contaminated by diesel, and compost was applied at the different rate of 0, 10, 30, and 50 Mg/ha. Concentration of TPH in the soil decreased as application rate of compost increased. Degradation efficiency was highest at compost 30 Mg/ha; however, it slightly decreased with compost 50 Mg/ha. Kinetic modeling was performed to estimate the rates of chemical reaction. The correlation coefficient (R2) values for the linear plots using the second-order model were higher than those using the first-oder model. Compost 30 and 50 Mg/ha had the fastest TPH degradation rate in the second-order model. Change of microbial population in soil with compost application was similar to that of TPH. Microbial population in the soil increased as application rate of compost increased. Increasing microbial population in the contaminated soil corresponded to decreased in TPH concentration.CONCLUSION: Conclusively, compost application for soil bioremediation could be an effective response to petroleum hydrocarbon-contaminated soil. The increase in microbial population with compost suggested that compost application at an optimum rate might enhance degradation of TPH in soil.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.557-575
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• 2020

Plasma blasting which is generated by high voltage arc discharge of electricity is applied to soil mass to improve permeability of soil and cleaning efficiency of oil contamination. A new high voltage generator was manufactured and three types of soil including silty sand, silty sand mixed with lime and silty sand mixed with cement were prepared. Small and large soil columns were produced using these types of soil and plasma blasting was performed within soil columns to investigate the variation of soil volume penetrated by fluid and permeability. Soil volume penetrated by fluid increased by 11~71% when plasma blasting was applied in soil. Although plasma blasting with low electricity voltage induced horizontal fracture and fluid penetrated along this weak plane, plasma blasting with high voltage induced spherical penetration of fluid. Plasma blasting increased the permeability of soil. Permeabilty of soils mixed with lime and cement increased by 450~1,052% with plasma blasting. Permeability of soil increased as discharge voltage increased when plasma blasing was applied once. However, several blastings with the same discharge voltage increase or decrease permeability of soil. Oil contaminated soil was prepared by adding diesel into soil artificially and plasma blasting was performed in these oil contaminated soil. Cleaning efficiency increased by average of 393% for soil located nearby the blasting and by average of 239% for soil located far from the blasting. Cleaning efficiency did not show any correlation with discharge voltage. All these results indicated that plasma blasting might be used for in-situ cleaning of oil contaminated soil because plasma blasting increased permeability of soil and cleaning efficiency.