Biodegradation of Crude Oil Polluted Soil by Co-Composting with Agricultural Wastes and Inorganic Fertilizer

Pollution of the environment by petroleum products is inevitable due to oil production,   transportation and distribution activities.   The present study is aimed at examining the extent of bioremediation that can be achieved in crude oil polluted soil after supplementing with organic manure (poultry droppings and goat dung); inorganic fertilizer (NPK 15:15:15) and saw dust respectively. A bioremediation study was carried out on soil experimentally polluted with Bonny Light crude oil by supplementation with organic and inorganic nutrients (poultry manure, goat dung, saw dust and NPK fertilizer). The efficacy of the treatments was monitored for 112days by the measurement of total hydrocarbon utilizing bacteria load and some physico-chemical parameters. The polluted soil (Control) sample had mean bacterial counts of 8.8x104, 9.0x104, 9.2´104, 9.9x104 and 7.6x104 cfu/g respectively. Sample treated with NPK fertilizer had mean bacterial counts of 4.4x104, 4.6x104, 4.7x104, 4.9x104 and 5.2x104 cfu/g on days 0,28,56,84 and 112 respectively; sample treated with poultry manure had mean bacterial counts of 1.6x104, 1.8x104, 2.0x104, 2.4x104 and 2.7x104 cfu/g on days 0, 28,56,84 and 112 respectively; the saw dust treated sample had mean bacterial counts of 2.0x104, 2.3x104, 2.7x104, 2.9x104 and 3.0x104 cfu/g on days 0,28,56,84 and 112 respectively while that treated with goat dung had mean bacterial counts of 9.3x104, 9.5x104, 9.6x104, 9.8x104and 9.9x104 cfu/g on days 0,28,56,84 and 112 respectively.  There were differences in the physico-chemical analyses from the diverse samples. After statistical analysis (P£0.05) there was a significant difference between the different treated samples from the control. The results suggest that nutrient supplementation would be effective in the remediation of crude oil polluted soils. The potentials of various treatment options for the bioremediation of crude oil polluted soils seems to hold the most immediate solution especially for use in areas that would be adversely affected by physical or other removal methods. In this study, the reduction of oil in the treated samples is evident, polluted samples supplemented with fertilizer and poultry manure respectively proved to be the best options during the 112 days study period. This study shows that those organic supplements containing nitrogen and phosphorus have great potentials for the remediation of soils contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbon within a reasonable time. Keywords: Bioremediation, Crude Oil Polluted Soil, Organic Manure (poultry droppings and goat dung); Inorganic fertilizer (NPK 15:15:15), Saw dust

Circular economy use of biomass residues to alleviate poverty, environment, and health constraints

Inadequate energy and water resources supply are major constraints contributing to poverty and poor health outcomes in developing economies. Low-income countries lack ready access to modern necessities such as electricity and potable water. On one hand, the scarcity of electricity and other clean energies compel reliance on traditional biomass for domestic fuels. On the other hand, harvesting firewood to meet energy needs leads to deforestation and environmental degradation. Furthermore, burning the wood for heat creates ecosystem perturbators such as toxicants, greenhouse gasses, and particulate matter. These pollutants portend adverse health concerns, including premature mortality. Globally, fine particulate matter air pollution alone causes about 3.3 million deaths annually. The contribution of this paper is to offer how circular economy targeted technologies could come to the rescue. In particular, utilizing biomass residues and wastes for briquette and pellet creation is highlighted. These densified fuel products could serve as green energies in domestic and industrial applications; and thus, help to attenuate poverty, and the adverse environmental and health consequences of traditional biomass

Combined impact of freezing and soaking times on different cowpea varieties' flour functionality and resultant gel strength, sensory and product yield of moi-moi

The preparation of moi-moi either from cowpea flour (processed by dry-milling) or paste (processed by wet-milling) has evolved from the indigenous processing methods. Feasibly, freezing should enhance the characteristics of the cowpea grain, and when combined with conventional processing, help to improve emergent products. In this current work, therefore, the combined impact of freezing with soaking times on different cowpea varieties' flour functionality and resultant gel strength, sensory and product yield of moi-moi were studied. Analysis of flour functionality involved the determinations of moisture content, bulk density, oil absorption capacity, swelling index and water absorption capacity, whereas those of moi-moi products involved gel strength, sensory and (product) yield. Across the cowpea flour samples, the functional attributes significantly differed (p 0.05), except for the aroma (p < 0.05). Moi-moi products' yield varied widely (p < 0.05) by different reconstituted water volumes. Overall, combining freezing with conventional processing that involved reconstituted water volumes of cowpea promises an enhanced moi-moi yield

Phytoaccumulation of Heavy Metals in a Waste Engine Oil-contaminated Soil by Aspillia africana After Exposure to Hydroxyl Amine Hydrochloride Pre-treatment

This study employed the use of NH2OH.HCl in the pre-treatment of&nbsp;Aspilia africana&nbsp;for the phytoremediation of waste engine oil-contaminated soil for a period of three months. 8 kg of soil was obtained, weighed and polluted at 5% W/W of waste engine oil which was replicated in 18 buckets and left for a period of one month to attenuate naturally before sowing with stems of&nbsp;Aspilia africana&nbsp;which were treated with four different concentrations of NH2OH.HCl (0.03125%, 0.0625%, 0.1250% and 0.2500% w/v) by soaking in the solution for one hour after which the planted stems were exposed for another two months with vegetative and physico-chemical parameters measured. The control was treated in distilled water (i.e. 0% w/v). Concentrations of heavy metals as well as Polyaromatic hydrocarbon in the contaminated soil were high after contamination and thus would normally be expected to impact the nutrients in the soil responsible for plant growth; with Cu present at a concentration of 26.24 mg/kg at 1 month after contamination (MAC) as compared to their none availability in the soil before contamination. As the plants matured with increase in time however, heavy metal concentrations in the soil decreased to the barest minimum in the soil with Cu (26.24 mg/kg at 1 MAC) been remediated to 0.40 mg/kg at 3 MAC using 0.0312% concentration of NH2OH.HCl treated&nbsp;Aspilia africana.&nbsp;It was observed that a considerable amount of Heavy metal concentrations in the contaminated soil were gotten rid of in the soil within the three months period that the experiment was carried out. Phytoremediation technology had worked for the degradation of contaminants in the soil and thus rendered the soil good for other useful purposes including agriculture and also to be kept for future reclamation activities. It is expected that further studies on this method of remediation will expose us to greatly appreciate nature’s gift of cleansing our environment for mankind. &nbsp

The Role of Natural Weed Species from Soil Seed Bank in the Natural Attenuation of a Petroleum Hydrocarbon Polluted Soil

Aims:&nbsp;The present study investigated the effect of the presence of natural weeds in the remediation of oil polluted soils that have not been disturbed or modified anthropogenically.Study Design:&nbsp;The experimental design chosen was the completely randomized design (CRD) following assumption of homogeneity of the experimental plot in use.Place and Duration of Study:&nbsp;Botanic Garden, University of Benin, Benin City. Study period spanned from April 2011 through December 2012.Methodology:&nbsp;Top soil was collected from a marked plot and thoroughly mixed with waste engine oil on weight basis to obtain 2.5%w/w oil-in-soil concentrations. Ten kilograms of the contaminated soil were measured each into experiment bowls. The entire set up was divided into 4 sets. The natural weeds that eventually emerged in the first set (Wwds) were left undisturbed throughout the duration of the experiment. Those in the second set (W4mw) were removed once every four months. Those in the third set were manually removed as soon as they appeared, leaving none on the soil surface (Wnon). The soils in the fourth set were sterilized before amendment with waste engine oil. The entire set up was exposed to the various treatment conditions for 20 months.Results:&nbsp;There were significant reductions in composition of soil heavy metals and polyaromatic hydrocarbon contents in the all the treatments. The treatment showing most enhanced remediation was Wwds, followed by W4mw, Wnon, and Wctr/ste&nbsp;in that order. Seven out of the nineteen weed species that originally made up the soil seed bank, were identified in the polluted soil. These included&nbsp;Euphorbia hirta, Fluerya aestuans, Panicum maximum, Phyllanthus amarus, Spigelia anthelmia,&nbsp;and&nbsp;Tridax procumbens.&nbsp;The predominant weed species was&nbsp;Euphorbia heterophylla. These weed species are likely oil tolerant species.Conclusion:&nbsp;The study further affirms that weed composition of any soil is to be reckoned with as an important factor in the natural attenuation of a petroleum hydrocarbon-polluted soil