Journal of Emerging Trends in Engineering and Applied Sciences: Research Areas

Abstract:
A study was carried out on mathematical modeling of soil contaminated with spent motor oil. This research work is important for the prediction of bioremediation times of hydrocarbon contaminated soil. Mathematical model for a typical soil contaminated with spent motor oil was derived from basic principles. The Oil and Grease (O&G) content and carbon dioxide (CO2) released from bioremediation experiments were used as indicators for monitoring bioremediation. The model developed was based on CO2 evolutions and it was evaluated using kinetic data, and compared with experimental results. Results obtained from this study revealed a goodness of fit between the experimental and predicted values. In addition, at 95% confidence level there was no significant difference between the experimental and predicted cumulative CO2 generation using the Chi-square (?2) statistical tool. It was observed that the profile obtained from the evaluated model concurred with the shifting order kinetics (1-0). Therefore, the developed model can be used for the prediction of bioremediation.

Keywords: bioremediation; CO2 evolution; basic principles; experimental values; predicted values; significant difference.

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