Oily Sludge Bioremediation Pilot Plant Project, Nigeria
Brass terminal, one of the several crude oil and
petroleum products storage/handling facilities in the Niger Delta was
built in the 1980s. Activities at this site, over the years, released
crude oil into this 3 m-deep, 1500 m-long canal lying adjacent to the
terminal with oil floating on it and its sediment heavily polluted. To
ensure effective clean-up, three major activities were planned: site
characterization, bioremediation pilot plant construction and testing
and full-scale bioremediation of contaminated sediment / bank soil by
land farming. The canal was delineated into 12 lots and each
characterized, with reference to the floating oily phase, contaminated
sediment and canal bank soil. As a result of site characterization, a
pilot plant for on-site bioremediation was designed and a treatment
basin constructed for carrying out pilot bioremediation test.
Following a designed sampling protocol, samples from this pilot
plant were collected for analysis at two laboratories as a quality
assurance / quality control check. Results showed that Brass Canal
upstream is contaminated with dark, thick and viscous oily film with
characteristic hydrocarbon smell while downstream, thin oily film
interspersed with water was observed. Sediments were observed to be
dark with mixture of brownish sandy soil with TPH ranging from
17,800 mg/kg in Lot 1 to 88,500 mg/kg in Lot 12 samples. Brass
Canal bank soil was observed to be sandy from ground surface to 3m,
below ground surface (bgs) it was silty-sandy and brownish while
subsurface soil (4-10m bgs) was sandy-clayey and whitish/grayish
with typical hydrocarbon smell. Preliminary results obtained so far
have been very promising but were proprietary. This project is
considered, to the best of technical literature knowledge, the first
large-scale on-site bioremediation project in the Niger Delta region,
Nigeria.
[1] Udotong, I. R. Environmental Monitoring and effect of petroleum
production effluent on some biota of the lower Qua Iboe River estuary.
Ph.D Dissertation. Rivers State University of Science & Technology,
Nkpolu, Port Harcourt, Nigeria. 2000. [2] Udotong, I. R. Brass Canal Bioremediation Project. Technical / Progress
Report submitted to Applied Ecology Dept.; Environmental Systems
Division, Saipem SpA. 2009.
[3] Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR. Environmental Guidelines &
Standards for Petroleum Industry in Nigeria, EGASPIN. DPR, Ministry
of Petroleum & Mineral Resources, Lagos, Nigeria. 2002.
[4] National Population Commission, NPC. National Population census
figure. National Population Commission, Abuja. 2006.
[5] Nyananyo, B. L (1999). Vegetation. In: Alagoa, E. J (ed) The land and
people of Bayelsa State: Central Niger Delta. Onyoma Research
Publications, Nembe. p.44.
[6] Association of Official Analytical Chemists, AOAC. Official Methods
of Analysis. 12th ed. AOAC, Washington DC. 1990.
[7] American Public Health Association, APHA. Standard methods for the
examination of water and waste water. 20th ed. American Public Health
Association. 1998.
[8] Collins, O. H and Lyne, F. M. Microbiological Methods. Great Britain.
Butterworth and Company Ltd. 1976.
[9] Federal Environmental Protection Agency, FEPA. National Guidelines
for Spilled oil Fingerprinting. Federal Environmental Protection Agency.
Government Press, Abuja. 2001.
[10] Udotong, I. R.; Eduok, S. I.; Essien, J. P. and Ita, B. N. Density of
hydrocarbonoclastic bacteria and polyaromatic hydrocarbon
accumulation in Iko River Mangrove ecosystem, Nigeria. P. World
Acad. Sc, Engg & Technol., 34: 830 - 836. 2008.
[11] Amadi, E. N and Braide, S. A. Distribution of Petroleum hydrocarbon
degraders around petroleum - related facilities in a mangrove swamp of
the Niger Delta. Journal of Nigerian Environmental Society. 1(2): 187 -
192. 2003.
[12] Udotong, I. R. and Ikpang, A. J. Taxonomy of Institutional and legal
framework for Environmental Control in Oil & Gas Industry in Nigeria.
In: Environmental Pollution and Management in the tropics. (E. N.
Adinna, O. B. Ekop and V. I. Atta, eds). SNNAP Press Ltd. Enugu,
Nigeria. 2009.
[13] Udotong, I. R.. Report of Drill Cuttings Bioremediation / Land Farming
Project. Technical / Progress Report submitted to Applied Ecology
Dept.; Environmental Systems Division, Saipem SpA. 2008.
[1] Udotong, I. R. Environmental Monitoring and effect of petroleum
production effluent on some biota of the lower Qua Iboe River estuary.
Ph.D Dissertation. Rivers State University of Science & Technology,
Nkpolu, Port Harcourt, Nigeria. 2000. [2] Udotong, I. R. Brass Canal Bioremediation Project. Technical / Progress
Report submitted to Applied Ecology Dept.; Environmental Systems
Division, Saipem SpA. 2009.
[3] Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR. Environmental Guidelines &
Standards for Petroleum Industry in Nigeria, EGASPIN. DPR, Ministry
of Petroleum & Mineral Resources, Lagos, Nigeria. 2002.
[4] National Population Commission, NPC. National Population census
figure. National Population Commission, Abuja. 2006.
[5] Nyananyo, B. L (1999). Vegetation. In: Alagoa, E. J (ed) The land and
people of Bayelsa State: Central Niger Delta. Onyoma Research
Publications, Nembe. p.44.
[6] Association of Official Analytical Chemists, AOAC. Official Methods
of Analysis. 12th ed. AOAC, Washington DC. 1990.
[7] American Public Health Association, APHA. Standard methods for the
examination of water and waste water. 20th ed. American Public Health
Association. 1998.
[8] Collins, O. H and Lyne, F. M. Microbiological Methods. Great Britain.
Butterworth and Company Ltd. 1976.
[9] Federal Environmental Protection Agency, FEPA. National Guidelines
for Spilled oil Fingerprinting. Federal Environmental Protection Agency.
Government Press, Abuja. 2001.
[10] Udotong, I. R.; Eduok, S. I.; Essien, J. P. and Ita, B. N. Density of
hydrocarbonoclastic bacteria and polyaromatic hydrocarbon
accumulation in Iko River Mangrove ecosystem, Nigeria. P. World
Acad. Sc, Engg & Technol., 34: 830 - 836. 2008.
[11] Amadi, E. N and Braide, S. A. Distribution of Petroleum hydrocarbon
degraders around petroleum - related facilities in a mangrove swamp of
the Niger Delta. Journal of Nigerian Environmental Society. 1(2): 187 -
192. 2003.
[12] Udotong, I. R. and Ikpang, A. J. Taxonomy of Institutional and legal
framework for Environmental Control in Oil & Gas Industry in Nigeria.
In: Environmental Pollution and Management in the tropics. (E. N.
Adinna, O. B. Ekop and V. I. Atta, eds). SNNAP Press Ltd. Enugu,
Nigeria. 2009.
[13] Udotong, I. R.. Report of Drill Cuttings Bioremediation / Land Farming
Project. Technical / Progress Report submitted to Applied Ecology
Dept.; Environmental Systems Division, Saipem SpA. 2008.
@article{"International Journal of Earth, Energy and Environmental Sciences:70056", author = "Ime R. Udotong and Justina I. R. Udotong and Ofonime U. M. John", title = "Oily Sludge Bioremediation Pilot Plant Project, Nigeria", abstract = "Brass terminal, one of the several crude oil and
petroleum products storage/handling facilities in the Niger Delta was
built in the 1980s. Activities at this site, over the years, released
crude oil into this 3 m-deep, 1500 m-long canal lying adjacent to the
terminal with oil floating on it and its sediment heavily polluted. To
ensure effective clean-up, three major activities were planned: site
characterization, bioremediation pilot plant construction and testing
and full-scale bioremediation of contaminated sediment / bank soil by
land farming. The canal was delineated into 12 lots and each
characterized, with reference to the floating oily phase, contaminated
sediment and canal bank soil. As a result of site characterization, a
pilot plant for on-site bioremediation was designed and a treatment
basin constructed for carrying out pilot bioremediation test.
Following a designed sampling protocol, samples from this pilot
plant were collected for analysis at two laboratories as a quality
assurance / quality control check. Results showed that Brass Canal
upstream is contaminated with dark, thick and viscous oily film with
characteristic hydrocarbon smell while downstream, thin oily film
interspersed with water was observed. Sediments were observed to be
dark with mixture of brownish sandy soil with TPH ranging from
17,800 mg/kg in Lot 1 to 88,500 mg/kg in Lot 12 samples. Brass
Canal bank soil was observed to be sandy from ground surface to 3m,
below ground surface (bgs) it was silty-sandy and brownish while
subsurface soil (4-10m bgs) was sandy-clayey and whitish/grayish
with typical hydrocarbon smell. Preliminary results obtained so far
have been very promising but were proprietary. This project is
considered, to the best of technical literature knowledge, the first
large-scale on-site bioremediation project in the Niger Delta region,
Nigeria.", keywords = "Bioremediation, Contaminated sediment, Land
farming, Oily sludge, Oil Terminal.", volume = "9", number = "6", pages = "678-5", }