Effect of Heat-Treatment Remediation on the Mechanical Behavior of Oil-Contaminated Soil

Abstract

The heat treatment of oil-contaminated sites is widely carried out for the purposes of remediation. However, heat treatment changes the physical and chemical properties of soil. Before the soil can be reused as a construction material in civil engineering, such as in backfill or road base materials, the changes to its physical properties must be understood. Therefore, this study investigates the changes in the physical and chemical properties of oil-contaminated soil after heat treatment. In this investigation, experimental samples of soil with added oil from a refinery plant are used to investigate the removal rate of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs) by thermal desorption and incineration. The physical properties of the soil, including water permeability and mechanical properties, are compared before and after heat treatment. The results of this study are as follows. (1) Particle size analysis reveals that heat treatment makes soil particles finer. (2) In the burning reduction test, heat treatment at 900 °C removes more than 90% of THP. (3) In the direct shear test, the friction angle (ϕ) increases with the removal rate. (4) In the hydraulic test, as the removal rate increases, the permeability coefficient increases after heat treatment.