Remediation Efficiency of Microwave Remediated Crude Oil Contaminated Black Cotton Soil (BCS) as Road Base Material

J. E. Sani, G. Moses, B. I. Ogbodo, K. Adebayo

Abstract


Remediation of crude oil contaminated black cotton (COCBC) soil was carried out to obtain the remediation efficiency using microwave heat. Several laboratory tests were conducted on the COCBC soil to assess its suitability as a road construction material. Specimens were compacted using the British Standard Light (BSL) and British Standard Heavy (BSH) compactive efforts. The expansive black cotton soil was classified as A-7-6 (13) or CH according the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) and Unified Soil Classification System (USCS), respectively. Soils in these groups are regarded as unsuitable for engineering purposes. The 7-day, 14-day, and 28-day UCS gave peak values of 392.07 kN/m2 at 10 hours, 423.85 kN/m2 at 8 hours and 731.3 kN/m2 at 8 hours of remediation, all under the BSH compactive effort. These values do not meet the 1710 kN/m2 requirements specified by TRRL (1977) for base material. Only the UCS value after 28 days meet the requirement of 687-1373 kN/m2for sub-base as specified by Ingels and Metcalf (1972). Peak C.B.R values of 3.57% at 10 hours and 10.89% at 8 hours of remediation were obtained for BSL and BSH compactive efforts respectively. The values do not meet the specification for base or sub-base materials as outlined by the Nigerian General Specifications (1997) but met that of sub grade. Finally, the remediation efficiency of crude oil contaminated black cotton soil using microwave heat can be achieved after 8 hours of heating with remediation efficiency of 91%.


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References


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