Analysis of Total Petroleum Hydrocarbon Content in Contaminated Soil after Biodegradation Treatment: Tobruk Refinery (Marsa El Hariga Terminal), Libya

Abstract

After oil-contaminated soil samples were collected from the affected area of an extensive oil spillage near the Tobruk refinery (El Hariga Terminal), a DOP-UNI biological product was used in this bioremediation field trail. DOP-UNI has the largest concentration of microorganisms, leading to the fastest rate of degradation in soils and water Gas. Chromatography with a flame ionization detector was used to test the collected samples. The overall petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) concentrations in untreated soil samples ranged from 2700± 28 to 2800± 26 µg g-1, while the treated samples had concentrations ranging from 3.5± 0.1 to 210.2 ±54 µg g-1. This represents a 97 percent removal of total hydrocarbons from the polluted soil samples. Findings show that bioremediation is stronger and quicker in samples exposed to direct sunlight.