Merits and limitations of TiO<sub>2</sub>-based photocatalytic pretreatment of soils impacted by crude oil for expediting bioremediation

doi:10.1007/s11705-017-1657-8

Front. Chem. Sci. Eng.

2017, Vol. 11

Issue (3) : 387-394 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11705-017-1657-8

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Merits and limitations of TiO₂-based photocatalytic pretreatment of soils impacted by crude oil for expediting bioremediation

Yu Yang¹, Hassan Javed^1,², Danning Zhang¹, Deyi Li³, Roopa Kamath⁴, Kevin McVey⁴, Kanwartej Sra⁴, Pedro J.J. Alvarez¹(

)

¹. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005, USA
². Department of Chemistry, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005, USA
³. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China
⁴. Chevron Energy Technology Company, Houston, TX 77002, USA

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Abstract

Heavy hydrocarbons (HHCs) in soils impacted by crude oil spills are generally recalcitrant to biodegradation due to their low bioavailability and complex chemical structure. In this study, soils were pretreated with varying concentrations of ultraviolet radiation A (UVA) or ultraviolet radiation C (UVC) activated titanium dioxide (TiO₂) (1%–5%) under varying moisture conditions (0%–300% water holding capacity (WHC)) to enhance biodegradation of HCCs and shorten remediation timeframes. We demonstrate that pretreatment of impacted soils with UVC-activated TiO₂ in soil slurries could enhance bioremediation of HHCs. ?Total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) removal after 24 h exposure to UVC (254 nm and 4.8 mW/cm²) was (19.1±1.6)% in slurries with 300% WHC and 5 wt-% TiO₂. TPH removal was non-selective in the C15-C36 range and increased with moisture content and TiO₂ concentration. In a 10-d bioremediation test, TPH removal in treated soil increased to (26.0±0.9)%, compared to (15.4±0.8)% for controls without photocatalytic pre-treatment. Enhanced biodegradation was also confirmed by respirometry. This suggests that addition of UVC-activated TiO₂ to soil slurries can transform recalcitrant hydrocarbons into more bioavailable and biodegradable byproducts and increase the rate of subsequent biodegradation. However, similar results were not observed for soils pretreated with UVA activated TiO₂. This suggests that activation of TiO₂ by sunlight and direct addition of TiO₂ to unsaturated soils within landfarming setting may not be a feasible approach. Nevertheless, less than 1% of UVA (7.5 mW/cm²) or UVC (1.4 mW/cm²) penetrated beyond 0.3 cm soil depth, indicating that limited light penetration through soil would hinder the ability of TiO₂ to enhance soil bioremediation under land farming conditions.

Keywords TiO₂ pretreatment bioremediation total petroleum hydrocarbons ultraviolet

Corresponding Author(s): Pedro J.J. Alvarez

Just Accepted Date: 14 April 2017 Online First Date: 05 July 2017 Issue Date: 23 August 2017

Cite this article:

Yu Yang,Hassan Javed,Danning Zhang, et al. Merits and limitations of TiO₂-based photocatalytic pretreatment of soils impacted by crude oil for expediting bioremediation[J]. Front. Chem. Sci. Eng., 2017, 11(3): 387-394.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/fcse/EN/10.1007/s11705-017-1657-8
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fcse/EN/Y2017/V11/I3/387

Fig.1 TPH concentrations under (A) 1 to 5 wt-% of TiO₂ (at 300% of WHC) and at (B) soil moisture with 0%?300% of WHC (5 wt-% of TiO₂) under UVC exposure. Asterisks (*) indicate significant removal compared to the dark control (p<0.05). Error bars represent±one standard deviation from the mean of triplicate measurements

Fig.2 Different molecular weight fractions of TPH with and without 24-h pretreatment with 5 wt-% TiO₂ under slurry conditions (300% WHC). Asterisks (*) indicate significant increases compared to the control (p<0.05). Error bars represent±one standard deviation from the mean of triplicate measurements

Fig.3 Oxygen consumption in blank and UVC activated TiO₂ pre-treated slurries (1 to 5 wt-%). Error bars represent±one standard deviation from the mean of triplicate measurements

Fig.4 TPH concentration in untreated control, UVC-irradiated control and UVC-activated TiO₂ in slurries after 10-d bioremediation. UVC irradiation was at 254 nm, 4.2?4.9 mW/cm² for 24 h. Asterisks (*) indicate significant increases compared to the control (p<0.05). Error bars represent±one standard deviation from the mean of triplicate measurements

Fig.5 TPH removal in 1-week, 4-week and 8-week pan studies

Fig.6 Penetration of UVA (A and C) or UVC light (B and D) through different depths of dry soil. Irradiation intensities were 7.5 mW/cm² for UVA and 1.4 mW/cm² for UVC. Error bars represent±one standard deviation from the mean of triplicate measurements

Fig.7 Solar radiation spectrum. The data were obtained from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory website (http://rredc.nrel.gov/solar/spectra/am1.5/)

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