Kinetic and Comparative Studies of Synthetic and Organic Fertilizers in the Remediation of Hydrocarbon-Polluted Soil
Keywords:
Bioremediation, biodegradation, soil remediation, hydrocarbon polluted soil, biofertilizer, first-order, pseudo-first-order.Abstract
Adoption of organic fertilizer (biofertilizer) for the bioremediation of hydrocarbon-contaminated soil could help reduce dependence on chemically formulated fertilizers. In a 42-day bioremediation of hydrocarbon-polluted soil, kinetic and comparative studies were carried out by the application of NPK-fertilizer and biofertilizers obtained from the biodigestion of aged and fresh cow dung. Three portions of the contaminated soil were treated with aged biofertilizer (A), fresh biofertilizer (B), and NPK-fertilizer (C), while the fourth portion served as the control without treatment. Pseudo-first-order kinetic model was used for the prediction of the biodegradation rate constants by regression analysis. In addition to microbial loads (among other properties), gravimetric technique was used for determining total hydrocarbon content in the soil before, during, and after remediation. Results showed that the bioremediation efficiency, 42 days after remediation, were 34.04, 61.94, 66.82, and 50.90% for the control, cell A, cell B, and cell C, respectively. The pseudo-first-order reaction rate constants for cells A, B, C, and control were 0.0196, 0.0197, 0.0151, and 0.0057 day-1, respectively. The study concludes that hydrocarbon-polluted soils could be decontaminated with these biofertilizers with varied hydrocarbon-degrading abilities proportional to their microbial loads. © 2026 Authors. All rights reserved.
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