Development of Analytical, Phyto- and Myco-Remediation Techniques to Manage Petroleum-Contaminated Soils
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DEVELOPMENT OF ANALYTICAL, PHYTO- AND MYCO-REMEDIATION TECHNIQUES TO MANAGE PETROLEUM-CONTAMINATED SOILS BY UDEME JOHN DICKSON A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT OF NOTTINGHAM TRENT UNIVERSITY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (PhD) IN ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES MARCH, 2020. i Declaration of originality This thesis is the original work carried out by Udeme John Dickson. Contributions from others and literatures used have been properly acknowledged. ………………………………………………. 06/03/2020 Dickson, Udeme John. Date Copyright declaration The copyright of this thesis is exclusively reserved with the author. It is only available under a Creative Attribute Non-Commercial No Derivative Licence. No part of the thesis should be published without proper acknowledgement or explicit permission of the author. i Dedication This thesis is dedicated to my supervisors namely Dr Marcello Di Bonito, Dr Nicholas Ray, Dr Michael Coffey, Professor Barry Smith and Professor Rob Mortimer for their guidance and support during the research period. ii Acknowledgement I am sincerely grateful to my sponsors, the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Nigeria and the Nottingham Trent University (NTU) for their scholarships, support and sponsorship during the research. Many hearty thanks to Dr Jillian Labadz for her role and support from the inception to the end of the programme. I also appreciate Dr Nicholas Midgley who served as my Internal Assessor. My earnest appreciation to Nigel Mould, David Edwards, Mark Sladen and other technical staffs of the Analytical Chemistry laboratory of NTU. Dr Hanley Quentin, Dr Muriel Funk and Dr David Kilgour of the Analytical Chemistry unit, my boss-Dr Karen Moss, HOD Chemistry and Forensics as well as other lecturers and staffs at NTU are hereby acknowledged for their numerous assistances. Special thanks to Dr Kirsty Mitchel and the technical staffs of NTU, Brackenhurst Laboratory as well as Paul Hunsley, Paul wright and Ian Thompson and other glasshouse technicians of NTU-Brackenhurst campus for their support during the glasshouse activities of this research. I really appreciate my Dad -Elder John Dickson Akpanudoh and Mum-Deaconess Rose John Akpanudoh, you are a role model for parents. Sincere thanks to my brothers- Dr Promise Dickson, Engr Uboho Dickson and Engr Ifiokobong Dickson. Having you guys gave me the grace not to look back. To my sisters Barrister Iboro Udoh, Mrs Enobong, Nse-Abasi, Aniebiet, and Barrister Lucky Dickson, and my brother in-law Barrister Jephthah Okon Udoh; your prayers, advice and support are highly appreciated. I specially recognised great contributions of Mr Promise Unwene, Mr Akan Ukwak and wife-Mfoniso, Innocent Etim, Dr Ini Usoro, Mrs Comfort Koka, Sir Sabastian Koka and other members of Ati-Annang Foundation, UK and Ireland; and Mr Isong Abraham and family towards my welfare in the UK. Many thanks to my supervisors, Dr Marcello Di Bonito, Dr Nicholas Ray, Dr Michael Coffey, Professor Barry Smith and Professor Rob Mortimer for their support and encouragement during the research. I will also like to acknowledge Victoria Boskett the research librarian, library staff, staff of purchasing and stores unit of NTU, Hayley Austin- PA to the Dean (ARES-NTU), and Dr Will Meredith of the University of Nottingham Low Carbon Energy and Resources Technologies Research Group for all their timely iii assistances during the programme. Your efforts and dedications did not go unnoticed. I also want to appreciate the timely help of Dr Ferdinand Giadom, Mr Nwiakoro Numbarabari Monday, the youth and community leaders of the various villages in Ogoniland, Niger Delta, Nigeria and Mr P. Schofleld of the Oil well nursery, Tibshelf, Derbyshire, United Kingdom where the sampling were carried. To all my colleagues and friends during this PhD at Brackenhurst, Clifton and City campuses of NTU, and especially the staffs of NTU-Doctoral School, I remain grateful. Time and chance brought us all for a purpose. You were all amazing. Finally, I owe it all to God for the grace and strength, and for being so merciful to me. To God alone be the glory. Great things He has done, greater things He will do. iv ABSTRACT Practical solutions to soil pollution by the petroleum industry are still to be fully realised. With new, unresolved and recurring cases, remediation options that are readily available, cost- effective and environmentally friendly are required. Analytical methods for quick and easy monitoring are also crucial. To find appropriate solutions to petroleum-contaminated soils particularly for the Niger Delta, Nigeria; options, which satisfy the above principles, were investigated. Thus, the aims of this research were to identify readily available and sustainable techniques for remediation of petroleum-contaminated soils; evaluate ways to overcoming associated limitations, thereby enhancing these techniques; and investigate for readily available methods of monitoring the petroleum-contaminated and remediated soils. After a systematic and critical literature review, phyto- and myco-remediation were identified as viable options for this research, their limitations were evaluated. The actual study involved sampling of petroleum- contaminated soils, treatment with phyto- and myco-remediation agents and investigation of methods for analysis and monitoring of the soils. Agents used for the remediation (evaluated in terms of reduction in Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons-TPHs in the soil samples) were: 3 species of sunflowers (Helianthus annus-pacino gold, Helianthus sunsation & Helianthus annus-sunny dwarf), the fern-Dryopteris affinis, fermented palm wine (from 2 species of palm trees -Elaeis guineensis & Raffia africana), and oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus). Supplementing the agents with Tween 80 and the use of alternative substrates and methods for application of P. ostreatus enabled the investigation of possible enhancement of their remediation efficiency. The investigation revealed up to 525 g of TPHs per Kg dry weight of soils. The remediation treatments produced as much as 69% reduction in TPHs by the sunflower species, 70% by fermented palm wine, 74% by D. affinis and 85% by P. ostreatus; with up to 100% enhancement on the addition of Tween-80. It was also found that substrates type and method of application has a significant effect on the remediation efficiency of P. ostreatus. The study further revealed that available nitrate, electrical conductivity, standardised crude oil and the biomarkers- dodecane and benzene-1,3-bis(1,1-dimethylethyl) can be used to broadly monitor the concentration of TPHs and remediation progress in soils. This research thus demonstrated that, phyto-and myco-remediation can provide readily available and sustainable techniques for remediation of TPHs in soils. Further studies are required to evaluate the application of these techniques for individual petroleum contaminant components such as the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon compounds and Asphaltenes. v List of publications A). Published articles 1. Dickson, Udeme John; Coffey, Michael; Mortimer, Robert John George; Di Bonito, Marcello and Ray, Nicholas (2019). Mycoremediation of Petroleum-contaminated soils: Progress, Prospects & Perspectives. Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts, 21: 1446–1458. 2. Dickson, Udeme John; Coffey, Michael; Mortimer, Robert John George; Smith, Barry; Di Bonito, Marcello and Ray, Nicholas (2020). Investigating the Potential of Sunflower Species, Fermented Palm Wine and P. ostreatus for Treatment of Petroleum- contaminated soils. Chemosphere, 240 (124881): 1-10. B). Other publication plans 3. Dickson, Udeme John; Coffey, Michael; Mortimer, Robert John George; Di Bonito, Marcello and Ray, Nicholas (2019). Phytoremediation Could Provide Solutions for Petroleum-contaminated soils. Nature Sustainability (Submitted-awaiting decision). 4. Dickson, Udeme John; Giadom, Ferdinand; Coffey, Michael; Mortimer, Robert John George; Smith, Barry; Di Bonito, Marcello and Ray, Nicholas (2019). Effect of Tween 80 on Some Phyto- and Myco-remediation Agents on Petroleum-contaminated Silty Loam Soil from Ogoniland, Niger Delta, Nigeria. Chemosphere (Submitted-awaiting decision). 5. Dickson, Udeme John; Giadom, Ferdinand; Coffey, Michael; Mortimer, Robert John George; Smith, Barry; Di Bonito, Marcello and Ray, Nicholas (2019). Utilising Mycoremediation for Treatment of Petroleum-contaminated Soils and Sediments from Ogoniland, Niger Delta, Nigeria. Land Degradation and Development (Submitted- awaiting decision). 6. Dickson, Udeme John; Giadom, Ferdinand; Coffey, Michael; Mortimer, Robert John George; Smith, Barry; Di Bonito, Marcello and Ray, Nicholas (2019). Assessment of Petroleum-contaminated Soils Using Crude Oil Standard and Biomarker Compounds- Dodecane, and Benzene-1,3-bis(1,1-dimethylethyl). Target Journals: Trends in Analytical Chemistry, Analytica Chimica Acta, Analytical Methods. vi Table of Contents Declaration of originality i Dedication ii Acknowledgement iii ABSTRACT v List of publications vi Table of Contents vii CHAPTER ONE 1 General introduction and study background 1 1.1 Introduction 1 1.2 Aims of the Study 3 1.3 Scope of the study 4 1.4 Conceptual plan and approach to the study 4 1.4.1 Approach to the study 4 1.4.2 Thesis Chapters 7 CHAPTER TWO 11 Literature review 11 2.1 Phytoremediation of petroleum-contaminated soils 11 2.1.1 Plant types and families with phytoremediation potential on petroleum-contaminated soils 14 2.1.2 Application practices and trends