Effect of Elephant Grass for the Remediation of Contaminated Swampy and Clay Soils Environment

Abstract

The research on the effect of Elephant grass and effectiveness to enhance remediation of crude oil polluted soil environment was studied. The experiment carried out in order to ascertain the performance of the locally sourced braw material for remediation of the contaminated soil. The physiochemical parameters of the contaminants such as crude oil, as well as the elephant grass in powdered form, swampy and clay soils were determined in terms of microorganisms presence. The degradation of the contaminants was monitored with period of exposure and the specific rate of substrate degradation was evaluated for each of the experimental set-up. The obtained results were used to determine the maximum specific rates, disassociation constant as well as the kinetic values in terms of first and second order kinetic. The research reveals that crude oil degradation was faster in reactors elephant grass in powdered form in swampy soil mixed with NPK and yeast. The total bacteria count increased across the different treatment reactors with optimum growth rate experienced at 56 days (progressive or exponential phase) before stationary and decline phase was experienced indicting total utilization of the substrate (crude oil) in each of the reactor.