The Use of Oil Palm Bunch Ash for Amelioration of Crude Oil Polluted Soils

The use of Oil Palm bunch ash for the amelioration of Crude Oil polluted soil was investigated at six amendment levels (10g, 20g, 30g, 40g, 50g and 60g) per 2kg soil.  A further investigation of the cumulative effect of oil palm bunch ash at the above amendment levels were carried out.  Experimental soils were subjected to Laboratory analysis using standard analytical methods for soil pH, organic carbon, organic matter, total nitrogen, available phosphorus and total hydrocarbon content.  Soil chemical property analysis indicated increase in soil pH value for soils amended with oil palm bunch ash over time thus reducing soil acidity for enhanced degradation.  Soil organic carbon and organic matter increased with levels of amendment material over time.  Soil total Nitrogen was generally deficient in soils. However, there was improvement at the end of experimentation.  Soil available phosphorus increased with amendment levels and was subsequently depleted in soils over time.  At the end of experimentation, there was improvement in soil available phosphorus.  Soil carbon, Nitrogen (C/N) ratio was observed to narrow down overtime in soils amended with oil palm bunch ash.  Soil total hydrocarbon analysis indicated a significant reduction in amended soils at 20g, 30g and 40g/2kg amendment levels with 28.99% to 30% reduction of total petroleum hydrocarbon content for residual treated soils  while cumulative treatment indicated optimum significant reductions at 40g/2kg with 29.34% reduction of TPH content. The finding of the work shows that Oil palm bunch ash amendment at the rate of 20g to 40g/2kg soil is the optimum treatment for remediation while cumulative application would favour the six levels of amendment with 40g/2kg as optimum. Keywords: Bioremediation, Biostimulation, Cumulative treatment, Residual  treatment.

Evaluation of Heavy Metal Phytoextraction Potential of Rhizophora Racemosa in Niger Delta Mangrove Forest, Rivers State, Nigeria

The bio transfer and bio translocation factors of heavy metals in the tissues of Rhizophora racemose was evaluated in this study. Soil, roots and shoot samples of the study plant were randomly collected from Kono, Bomu, Ogu and Borokiri mangrove forests at wet and dry seasons, digested and analyzed for heavy metals using standard laboratory methods. The laboratory results of field samples were further subjected to bio transfer and bio translocation factors analysis. Findings on wet season bio transfer factor revealed the concentrations of Cr (0.36mg/kg), Ni (0.86 mg/kg), Cd (2.86 mg/kg), Pb (1.17 mg/kg) and Zn (1.85 mg/kg), while dry season showed Cr (0.36mg/kg), Ni (0.55 mg/kg), Cd (1.24 mg/kg), Pb (2.72 mg/kg) and Zn (1.99 mg/kg). The bio translocation factor results for wet season indicated the concentrations of Cr (0.51mg/kg), Ni (1.47 mg/kg), Cd (1.02 mg/kg), Pb (1.48 mg/kg) and Zn (0.88 mg/kg), while dry season result revealed Cr (0.41mg/kg), Ni (0.65 mg/kg), Cd (1.24 mg/kg), Pb (1.50 mg/kg) and Zn (0.81 mg/kg). This study therefore classifies Rhizophora racemose as a hyper accumulator of Pb and Cd in shoot tissues and non-hyper accumulator of Cr, Ni and Zn in root tissues. Beside other uses, the plant has shown high affinity for the accumulation of heavy metals and thus can be used for phytoremediation. Keywords: Phytoextraction, mangrove, heavy metals, evaluation, bio-transfer, bio-translocation DOI: 10.7176/JNSR/12-14-03 Publication date:July 31st 202

Effect of palm bunch ash treatment on remediation and growth performance of Zea mays in crude oil polluted soil

The effect of polluted hydrocarbon (PHC) soil altering the fertility of the soil for effective plant growth yield is a major concern. This study examines the use of oil palm bunch ash as biostimulation technique for bioremediation of PHC soils. Under strict compliance of oil treatment of 10g, 20g, 30g, 40g, 50g, and 60g with oil palm bunch ash on soil samples of 2kg weighed surface soil of 0-20cm polluted and non-polluted sites were collected randomly into perforated planting bags. Various results of residual and cumulative effect on treated soil of oil palm bunch ash enhances the improvement of Zea mays growth performance at 7WAP (7 weeks after planting) after eight months post-treated soils. The residual result shows that optimum treatment favoured 40g/2kg soil with plant emergence ( 41.67% ), plant height ( 22.77cm) and dry matter ( 0.7235g ), while cumulative treatment revealed 30g/2kg treatment as optimum with plant emergence ( 91.67% ), plant height ( 24.40 cm) and dry matter ( 0.8202g ). No doubt, this study of treating PHC soil with oil palm bunch ash at the above mentioned treatment levels improved soil performance for plant growth by reducing the hydrophobic nature of soils which resulted to improvement in the availability of water, oxygen and mineralization of soils. Key words: Biostimulation, Bioremediation, Residual, Cumulative, Plant Performance.

Evaluation of Heavy Metal Levels and the Distribution of Rhizophora racemosa and Nypa fruticans in the Niger Delta Mangrove Forest, Nigeria

Plants react differently to pollutant levels in their substratum, and pollutant levels either positively or negatively influence their distribution. In this study, soil levels of Cr, Ni, Cd, Pb and Zn on the distribution of Rhizophora racemosa and Nypa fruticans was investigated. Soil samples were collected randomly closer to the roots at growth sites and the non-growth sites of the study plants at four selected stations in the study area and analyzed using standard laboratory methods. Findings showed that N. fruticans grew well in soils with high levels of soil Cr, Pb and Zn over R. racemosa whose growth was associated with soils with lower levels of the referenced metals and the above metals influence their distribution. The above observation was attributed to the high tolerance level of N. fruticans to Cr, Pb and Zn toxicity above R. racemosa. It is thus concluded that R. racemosa and N. fruticans distribution are influenced by the levels of soil heavy metals. Keywords: Pollutant levels, Distribution, Mangrove