Remediation of Petroleum Contaminants in the Persian Gulf Coast
Sustainable process-product development & green chemistry
Sustainable & Clean Technologies-I: Extraction & Remediation (T1-4P)
Keywords: Persian Gulf, heavy metals, petroleum hydrocarbon, fermentation
Alemzadeh, I. * Vossoughi, M.*, Moslehi, P.* and **Sanati, A. M.
Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, 11365-6891
Abstract: The Persian Gulf, which lies within the region delineated by latitude 24-30οN and longitude 48-56°E, is a shallow basin with an average depth of 35 m. The volume of water in this area is about 7800 km3. For the immense economic wealth and geopolitical importance of the region today and also the ecosystem of the Gulf and specially its shore has been polluted. About 40% of all the tankers traffic in the world is in the Persian Gulf. It is estimated that the Gulf area are 47times polluted than the average estimated amount for a marine environment of a similar surface area. The amount of petroleum pollutant and heavy metal consistent in the soil of Persian Gulf coast at 8 selected stations were determined. The average amount of petroleum hydrocarbons contamination was about 14.3-143.6 mg/kg of soils for different stations. Nikel had optimal level of heavy metal with 58.6 mg/kg in Emam Hassan area at 50 kilometers to west Boushehr port. Remediation of contaminated soils was studied in two culture mediums under slurry and solid-state fermentation conditions, and 8 bacteria types were isolated. Four species: Em2, SH, GN1, and GN3 showed optimal PAH removal efficiency. Degradation efficiency under slurry conditions was observed after about 45 days, which during this period, naphthalene and phenanthrene showed 73 and 66% removal efficiency respectively. Under solid state conditions, microbial activity of mixed and pure culture due to high ability of different strains for growth, showed higher degradability compared to pure culture, but due to insufficient mixing under solid state conditions, mass transfer velocity of nutrient reduced which caused reduction in cell activity, so removal efficiency under slurry conditions would be higher.
