Volume 59, Issue 330, June 2023

Assessment of n-decane concentration in the diffusion of crude oil in different soil environment of Aluu in Niger Delta

Wecheonwu BC, Onyekwulu CS

Lecturer, Department of Chemical Engineering, Madonna University, Nigeria

ABSTRACT

The assessment of n-decane concentration in the diffusion of crude oil in different soil environment was investigated by the help of experiment. Three cylindrical reactors 125cm high and 13.8cm in diameter were designed and transferred three different soils into the reactors clay soil, loamy soil and sandy soil respectively. In every two weeks samples were collected from the first point of the three reactors to test with Gas Chromatography (GC) to determine the concentration of n-decane (C₁₀) hydrocarbons present. The process lasted for two months two weeks. It was observed that there was decrease in n-decane (C₁₀) hydrocarbon degradation was observed with increase in time. The decrease may be attributed to the order of magnitude of the individual hydrocarbon degradation and diffusion in the various soil samples revealed that the decrease in sandy soil is greater than that of clay soil and loamy soil, while that of clay soil is greater than that of loamy soil, which can be presented in simpler form as (SS > CS > LS) and the characteristics of the behavior of the C₁₀individual hydrocarbon degradation in this case can be attributed to the physicochemical properties of the soil as well as the environmental factors.

Keywords: Assessment, diffusion, crude, Aluu, Niger Delta

Discovery, 2023, 59, e66d1247

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Published: June 2023