Petroleum Hydrocarbon Contaminated Soil
Overview
Petroleum hydrocarbons such as petrol, diesel, lubricating oil, grease and crude oil are common contaminants for a wide variety of sites. Contaminated sites include not just large oil refineries, gas-works sites and fuel storage depots, but also end users and retailers such as mines, railways, farms and of course service stations.
Our bioremediation strategies for soil are generally aerobic in nature, however petroleum hydrocarbons vary significantly and so too do the microbes and conditions required to bioremediate them. This is where we can help.
Some sites may be suitable for low cost/low effort landfarming with just a small addition of nutrients. However, others may also require bioaugmentation cultures, surfactants, bulking agents etc.
Our advice will help you enhance the natural microbial processes for cost efficient and speedy remediation – no matter how readily biodegradable or recalcitrant the petroleum hydrocarbons are.
Microdiagnostic Evaluation
While many labs in Australia can provide the chemical analysis, we are unique in our comprehensive suite of micro-diagnostic analysis tool. Our micro-diagnostics for petroleum hydrocarbon contaminated sites include …
DNA analysis:
NextGen Bacteria Community Profile: for insights into the health, potential treatment inhibition, competitors to and helpful supporters of hydrocarbon degraders.
qPCR abundance: of key functional genes for hydrocarbon oxidation: we use qPCR assays to quantify the abundance of genes encoding hydrocarbon degrading enzymes such a monooxygenases, dioxygenases and dehydrogenases active under aerobic conditions or alkB, assA and bcrA genes encoding anaerobic hydrocarbon degradation pathways.
Learn more about our full range of qPCR targets for analysis and monitoring of contaminated soil and groundwater using our qPCR Target Search tool.
Spectrophotometric analysis:
Dehydrogenase Activity (DHA) Assay: Measures microbial biomass and oxidative ability, indicating the potential for biodegradation of hydrocarbons.
Laccase Activity Assay: Evaluates the presence of laccase enzymes, which are involved in the degradation of lignin and other complex organic molecules. Useful in assessing the breakdown of organic pollutants.
Peroxidase Activity Assay: Assesses the activity of peroxidase enzymes, which play a role in the oxidation of organic compounds. Important for evaluating the degradation of phenolic pollutants and other recalcitrant compounds.
Treatability benchtesting
After the initial micro-diagnostic analysis, some sites may move directly to treatment. However, microcosm bench studies may be required to optimise treatment protocols. Bench-tests are particularly important if the site contains recalcitrant petroleum compounds such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH’s) such as naphthalene, phenanthrene and pyrene.
Treatment
We supply a comprehensive range of products for successful bioremediation of petroleum hydrocarbon contaminated sites, including:
Bioaugmentation microbial culture mixes tailored to your site, typically dependent on the age of the contamination.
Nutrient mixes to optimise and simplify bioremediation, eg. tailoring the release of nitrogen and phosphorous to match microbial use for bioremediation.
Surfactants and absorption agents to improve soil wetting and the bioavailability of the contaminants.
Agents providing electron acceptors where aeration for oxygen supply is insufficient or difficult (low redox or anerobic conditions).
Monitoring
Contaminant analysis only tells you part of the story. Our analysis provides insights into why contaminants levels are changing (or not) and if treatment is working well or needs adjustment.
Key monitoring packs for petroleum hydrocarbon contaminated soil sites are:
qPCR-HCAe11: qPCR pack of 11 key enzyme targets for monitoring petroleum hydrocarbon aerobic oxidation bioremediation monitoring, ie. TOD, RMO, RDEG, PHE, EDO, BPH4, NAH, NAG, PHN, AlkB. [More info]
qPCR-HCAn9: qPCR pack of 9 key enzyme targets for monitoring anaerobic oxidation of petroleum hydrocarbons, ie. Total-Bact, BSS, ABC, ANC, NMS, assA, BCR, SRB, mcrA [More info]
qPCR-CustPk: Customised qPCR pack of specific gene targets for bioremediation of recalcitrant compounds specific to your site, eg. PAH’s, pyrenes or even specific compounds such as benzo-a-pyrene.
AssDLP: Spectrophotometric activity quantification of Dehydrogenase, Laccase and Peroxidase. Note, these Spectrophotometric assays can be provided for on-site field assessment.
Learn more about our full range of qPCR targets for analysis and monitoring of oil, fuel or other petroleum hydrocarbons contaminated soil using our qPCR Target Search tool.
Please also contact us if there are targets you would like that aren't on this menu. We have additional targets that aren't listed and, if needed, we can develop new targets for you project.