Oil-contaminated soil (2.3-17 g/kg), even soil with high clay and silt
content, was remediated microbiologically in a slurry reactor. The pr
esence of soil, however, Limits the degradation rate of oil. In contra
st with results from experiments using oil dispersed in water, the rel
ative composition of the oil components in a soil slurry after degrada
tion was about the same as that of the original oil. Thus the composit
ion of the degraded oil is the same as that of the original oil, which
is indicative for a physical, rather than a (bio)chemical, limitation
on the oil degradation rate. About 70% of the contaminant was readily
available and was degraded in less than eight days. The dual injected
turbulent suspension (DITS) reactor is able to combine remediation of
part of the contaminated (polydisperse) soil with separation of the s
oil into a heavily and a lightly polluted fraction. In continuous oper
ation, lowering the overall soil residence time from 200 to 100 h did
not significantly increase the oil concentration in the effluent soil.
Therefore a soil residence time of less than 100 h is feasible. With
a residence time of 100 h, overall oil degradation rates at the steady
state were more than 70 times faster than in a comparable land farm.
After treatment in a DITS reactor, the remaining oil in the contaminat
ed soil fraction is slowly released from the soil. From a batch experi
ment it was found that another 10 weeks were needed to reach the Dutch
reference level of 50 mg/kg. This can be done in a process with a low
energy input, such as a landfarm.