MODELLING OF THE TOTAL PETROLEUM HYDROCARBON (TPH) DEGRADATION DURING THE BIOREMEDIATION OF CRUDE OIL POLLUTED SOIL USING COW DUNG AND WIRE CROTONS

The contamination of soil due to activities involved in crude oil exploration and production, and oil spillage emanating from pipeline vandalization, sabotage, theft, corrosion of pipeline and the enterprises of artisanal refineries pose health and ecological problems. This is especially as crude oil contains chemical compounds which are grouped into the Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons (TPH), and known to be toxic, mutagenic, and carcinogenic. Bioremediation is currently being explored as a cost effective and environmentally friendly methods of remediating the soil from this contaminant. Thus, the current work is aimed at developing a mathematical model for the bioremediation process. This was carried out while assuming that the process of degradation is a first order reaction, and the principle of the law of conservation of mass was applied. A linear model ( ) was developed relating the instantaneous concentration of TPH, initial concentration of TPH and time duration of the bioremediation. The model fitted well to the experimental data as shown by the result of the statistical analysis where the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) showed a p-value of 0.004 suggesting that the model is statistically significant. The p-values of the model variables such as time duration of the bioremediation was 0.004, this suggested that the variable is significant. The model can be used as a supporting tool in the management of the biodegradation of TPH to predict the degradation concentration of TPH during the bioremediation process at ambient condition of temperature and pressure using cow dung, wire croton and their combination as a carbon source. KEYWORDS: Bioremediation; cow dung; wire croton; degradation; Mathematical modelling