Photooxidation of Heavy Crude Oil Spilled in Tropical Soil

Abstract

Photooxidation was an important weathering process for spilled oil at the on tropical soil following a heavy crude oil spill, leading to the rapid formation of polar or oxygenated hydrocarbons, little is known photo-oxidation of hydrocarbons in soils. This study described the effect of solar radiation on heavy crude oil contaminated tropical soil. Physicochemical parameter of heavy crude oil showed the following values; API was 21.9, which was within the range of heavy crude oil, the density of the heavy crude was 0.8952 g/cm3. We examined the effect of ultraviolet light on crude oil using gas chromatography method for day 0, 14, 28 and 42. The results show a remarkable reduction in the total petroleum hydrocarbon [4664.56 mg/l to 1548.85 mg/kg] and poly aromatic hydrocarbon content of heavy crude oil [37.44 mg/kg to 2.12 mg/kg] from day zero to day 42. The saturated compounds was resistant, but the aromatic compounds were particularly sensitive to photo oxidation. This study provides quantitative measures of oil degradation under relevant field conditions, and improves our understanding of the role of sunlight on the fate of spilled oil on natural soil biota.