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Influence of soil and hydrocarbon properties on the solvent extraction of high-concentration weathered petroleum from contaminated soils

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Abstract

Petroleum ether was used to extract petroleum hydrocarbons from soils collected from six oil fields with different history of exploratory and contamination. It was capable of fast removing 76–94 % of the total petroleum hydrocarbons including 25 alkanes (C11–C35) and 16 US EPA priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from soils at room temperature. The partial least squares analysis indicated that the solvent extraction efficiencies were positively correlated with soil organic matter, cation exchange capacity, moisture, pH, and sand content of soils, while negative effects were observed in the properties reflecting the molecular size (e.g., molecular weight and number of carbon atoms) and hydrophobicity (e.g., water solubility, octanol–water partition coefficient, soil organic carbon partition coefficient) of hydrocarbons. The high concentration of weathered crude oil at the order of 105 mg kg−1 in this study was demonstrated adverse for solvent extraction by providing an obvious nonaqueous phase liquid phase for hydrocarbon sinking and increasing the sequestration of soluble hydrocarbons in the insoluble oil fractions during weathering. A full picture of the mass distribution and transport mechanism of petroleum contaminants in soils will ultimately require a variety of studies to gain insights into the dynamic interactions between environmental indicator hydrocarbons and their host oil matrix.

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Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 21307069, No. 21306129 and No. 41201497), Municipal Natural Science Foundation of Tianjin (No. 12JCQNJC05300), Guangdong Natural Science Foundation (No. S2013040012413), and China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No. 2013M530641).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, China

    Hong Sui, Zhengtao Hua, Xingang Li & Hong Li

  2. Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering, Tianjin, 300072, China

    Hong Sui, Xingang Li & Hong Li

  3. National Engineering Research Center for Distillation Technology, Tianjin, 300072, China

    Hong Sui, Xingang Li & Hong Li

  4. Division of Ocean Science and Technology, Graduate School at Shenzhen, Tsinghua University, Shenzhen, 518055, China

    Guozhong Wu

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  1. Hong Sui
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Correspondence to Guozhong Wu.

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Sui, H., Hua, Z., Li, X. et al. Influence of soil and hydrocarbon properties on the solvent extraction of high-concentration weathered petroleum from contaminated soils. Environ Sci Pollut Res 21, 5774–5784 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-2511-x

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