Evaluationof the Bioaugmentation Technique in the Bioremediation Process of Diesel Contaminated Soils

Physical and chemical methods are among the most common methods used for removing oil pollutions. But these methods are very difficult, dangerous and costly.
Under certain circumstances, biotechnology could offer more effective approaches for decontaminating polluted sites. To that effect, the objective of this research is to assess the efficacy of bioaugmentation technique in the elimination of oil pollutions.In this research, Diesel fuel contaminated soil was held for 100 days in cubic columns measuring one cubic meter in the ambiance temperature with relative humidity at 50%. This soil was compared with diesel-contaminated soil before undergoing microbial inoculation. Bioaumengtation was done with microbes achieved from screening and parameters, pH and gas chromatography analysis. The results obtained from the total count of microorganisms and gas chromatography analysis indicate that during 100 days period following microbial inoculation, the soil columns have seen an increase in microbial population from 2×106 to 2.6×1010. Biochemical and molecular tests showed that gram negative bacilli (pseudomonas) were the most dominant microorganism and the qualitative and quantitative analysis with gas chromatography device shows that some components in the treated samples have disappeared or declined by bioaugmentation. Studies conducted on Diesel fuel soaked samples by gas chromatography device showed bioremediation of Diesel fuel contamination by microbes obtained from the screening stage.