Effect of electric intensity on the microbial degradation of petroleumpollutants in soil
Tingting Li , Shuhai Guo , Bo Wu , Fengmei Li , Zhixin Niu
DOI:
Received June 29, 2009,Revised March 23, 2010, Accepted , Available online
Volume 22,2010,Pages 1381-1386
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Electro-bioremediation is an innovative method to remedy organic-polluted soil. However, the principle of electrokinetic technology
enhancing the function of microbes, especially the relationship of electric intensity and biodegradation e ciency, is poorly investigated.
Petroleum was employed as a target organic pollutant at a level of 50 g/kg (mass of petroleum/mass of dry soil). A direct current power
supply was used for tests with a constant direct current electric voltage (1.0 V/cm). The petroleum concentrations were measured at
3275–3285 nm after extraction using hexane, the group composition of crude oil was analyzed by column chromatography. The water
content of soil was kept 25% (m/m). The results indicated the degradation process was divided into two periods: from day 1 to day 40,
from day 41 to day 100. The treatment of soil with an appropriate electric field led the bacteria to have a persistent e ect in the whole
period of 100 days. The highest biodegradation e ciency of 45.5% was obtained after treatment with electric current and bacteria.
The electric-bioremediation had a positive e ect on alkane degradation. The degradation rate of alkane was 1.6 times higher in the soil
exposed to electric current than that treated with bacteria for 100 days. A proper direct current could stimulate the microbial activities
and accelerate the biodegradation of petroleum. There was a positive correlation between the electric intensities and the petroleum
bioremediation e ciencies with a coe cient of 0.9599.
