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Investigation of ethyl lactate as a green solvent for desorption of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) from contaminated soil

Environmental Science and Pollution Research volume 23, pages 22008–22018 (2016)Cite this article

Abstract

Treatment of oil-contaminated soil is a major environmental concern worldwide. The aim of this study is to examine the applicability of a green solvent, ethyl lactate (EL), in desorption of diesel aliphatic fraction within total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) in contaminated soil and to determine the associated desorption kinetics. Batch desorption experiments were carried out on artificially contaminated soil at different EL solvent percentages (%). In analysing the diesel range of TPH, TPH was divided into three fractions and the effect of solvent extraction on each fraction was examined. The experimental results demonstrated that EL has a high and fast desorbing power. Pseudo-second order rate equation described the experimental desorption kinetics data well with correlation coefficient values, R 2, between 0.9219 and 0.9999. The effects of EL percentage, initial contamination level of soil and liquid to solid ratio (L/S (v/w)) on initial desorption rate have also been evaluated. The effective desorption performance of ethyl lactate shows its potential as a removal agent for remediation of TPH-contaminated soil worldwide.

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Acknowledgments

The Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE), Malaysia is gratefully acknowledged for the financial support towards this project under the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS) FRGS/2/2013/TK05/UNIM/02/1.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus, Jalan Broga, 43500, Semenyih, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia

    Seyedeh Pegah Jalilian Ahmadkalaei & Suyin Gan

  2. Department of Mechanical, Materials and Manufacturing Engineering, The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus, Jalan Broga, 43500, Semenyih, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia

    Hoon Kiat Ng

  3. Faculty of Civil Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450, Shah Alam, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia

    Suhaimi Abdul Talib

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  1. Seyedeh Pegah Jalilian Ahmadkalaei
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  2. Suyin Gan
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  3. Hoon Kiat Ng
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  4. Suhaimi Abdul Talib
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Correspondence to Suyin Gan.

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Responsible editor: Santiago V. Luis

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Jalilian Ahmadkalaei, S.P., Gan, S., Ng, H.K. et al. Investigation of ethyl lactate as a green solvent for desorption of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) from contaminated soil. Environ Sci Pollut Res 23, 22008–22018 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-7462-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-7462-y

Keywords

  • Soil
  • Ethyl lactate (EL)
  • Solvent
  • Total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH)
  • Remediation
  • Extraction