Comparison of Venting Modes for Bench Scale Treatment of Diesel Contaminated Soil

Bioventing efficiency was compared in a continuous and an intermittent(6hr injection and 6hr rest) air injection mode. Two lab-scale columns which packed with 5 kg of soil artificially contaminated by diesel oil were operated. The columns were maintained at the in order to minimize the effect of exterior temperature variation. The flow rate of air injection mode were maintained constantly at the flow rate of 10 ml/min. The moisture of the columns was stably maintained at of field capacity. The nutrient compounds were added to make C:N:P ratio as 100:10:l. The continuous and intermittent injection modes showed 67.56% and 69.63% reduction of initial TPH concentration during 90 days, respectively. Two venting modes showed similar results in the analysis of the trends of the hydrocarbon utilizing bacterial counts for operating periods. The carbon dioxide production rate of the continuous injection mode was higher than that of intermittent injection mode. The loss of diesel oil by volatilization in the continuous and intermittent injection modes were about 5% and 1%, respectively. The lower volatilization loss in the intermittent injection mode suggested that the biodegradation of TPH in the intermittent injection mode was greater than that of the continuous mode. These results suggested that the intermittent injection mode is more efficient than the continuous venting mode.