Maximizing diesel removal from contaminated sand using Scirpus mucronatus and assessment of rhizobacteria addition effect

Ipung Fitri Purwanti; Siti Rozaimah Sheikh Abdullah; Ainon Hamzah; Mushrifah Idris; Hassan Basri; Mohd Talib Latif; Muhammad Mukhlisin; Setyo Budi Kurniawan; Muhammad Fauzul Imron

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e21737

Maximizing diesel removal from contaminated sand using Scirpus mucronatus and assessment of rhizobacteria addition effect

Heliyon. 2023 Nov 4;9(11):e21737. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e21737. eCollection 2023 Nov.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Civil, Planning, And Geo Engineering, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Kampus ITS Sukolilo, Surabaya 60111, Indonesia.
² Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia.
³ School of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia.
⁴ Tasik Chini Research Center, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Malaysia.
⁵ Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Malaysia.
⁶ School of Environmental Science and Natural Resources, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Malaysia.
⁷ Department of Civil Engineering, Politeknik Negeri Semarang, 50275 Semarang, Indonesia.
⁸ Laboratory of Algal Biotechnology, Centre Algatech, Institute of Microbiology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Opatovický Mlýn, Novohradská 237, 379 81 Třeboň, Czech Republic.
⁹ Study Program of Environmental Engineering, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universitas Airlangga, Kampus C UNAIR, Jalan Mulyorejo, Surabaya 60115, Indonesia.
¹⁰ Department of Water Management, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Delft University of Technology, Stevinweg 1, CN Delft 2628, Netherlands.

Abstract

Phytoremediation is one of the green technologies that is friendly to nature, utilizes fewer chemicals, and exhibits good performance. In this study, phytoremediation was used to treat diesel-contaminated sand using a local aquatic plant species, Scirpus mucronatus, by analyzing the amount of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs). Optimization of diesel removal was performed according to Response Surface Methodology (RSM) using Box-Behnken Design (BBD) under pilot-scale conditions. The quadratic model showed the best fit to describe the obtained data. Actual vs. predicted values from BBD showed a total of 9.1 % error for the concentration of TPH in sand and 0 % error for the concentration of TPH in plants. Maximum TPH removal of 42.3 ± 2.1 % was obtained under optimized conditions at a diesel initial concentration of 50 mg/kg, an aeration rate of 0.48 L/min, and a retention time of 72 days. The addition of two species of rhizobacteria (Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus licheniformis) at optimum conditions increased the TPH removal to 51.9 ± 2.6 %. The obtained model and optimum condition can be adopted to treat diesel-contaminated sand within the same TPH range (50-3000 mg/kg) in sand.

Keywords: Bacillus; Hydrocarbon; Phytoremediation; Pollution; TPH.