Effects of surfactants on the remediation of petroleum contaminated soil and surface hydrophobicity of petroleum hydrocarbon degrading flora

Abstract

It has been proven that surfactants used in the remediation of petroleum hydrocarbon contaminated soil have great application potential. In this study, the effects of five surfactants (SDBS, Tween80, Tween60, rhamnolipid and TRS-1) on leaching of petroleum hydrocarbons from soil were investigated through orthogonal experiments, and petroleum hydrocarbon components were analyzed by GC/MS. The effects of surfactants on the degradation of petroleum hydrocarbon were analyzed by the changes of microbial growth curve and surface hydrophobicity. The results showed that surfactant type, temperature and surfactant concentration had significant effects on the removal rate of petroleum hydrocarbon. Tween80, rhamnolipid and TRS-1 have good bio-friendliness and a high removal rate of petroleum hydrocarbons (up to 65%), suitable for the restoration of the soil used in the experiment And Surfactants exhibited a higher removal rate for small molecules and petroleum hydrocarbons with odd carbon atoms. Surfactants have a certain modification effect on the surface of relatively hydrophilic bacteria under the initial conditions, making their surface properties develop in the direction of enhanced hydrophobicity, and the hydrophobicity has increased from less than 20% to about 40%.