Degradation Kinetics of Petroleum Contaminants in Soil-Water Systems

On the basis of site investigation and sample collection of petroleum contaminants in the soil-water-crop system in the Shenyang-Fushun sewage irrigation area, the physical-chemical-biological compositions of the unsaturated zone is analyzed systematically in this paper. At the same time, the degradation kinetics of residual and aqueous oils is determined through biodegradation tests. The studies show that dominant microorganisms have been formed in the soils after long-term sewage irrigation. The microorganisms mainly include bacteria, and a few of fungus and actinomycetes. After a 110-days' biodegradation test, the degradation rate of residual oil is 9.74%-10.63%, while the degradation rate of aqueous oil reaches 62.43%. This indicates that the degradation rate of low-carbon aqueous oil is higher than that of high-carbon residual oil. In addition, although microbial degradation of petroleum contaminants in soils is suitable to the first-order kinetics equation, the half-lives of aqueous oil, No. 20 heavy diesel and residual oil in the surface soils (L2-1, S1-1 and X1-1) are 1732 h, 3465 h and 17325 h, respectively.