Investigation of the effectiveness of fenton oxidation for remediating ballast water contaminated soil

Abstract

Ballast water released from ships have been known to contaminate water bodies and soils and introduce invasive species into the immediate environment, if not properly treated or if not treated at all. There is therefore a need to design several strategies in preventing and/or ameliorating this and to establish the effectiveness of each strategy. This paper therefore investigates the effectiveness of the use of fenton oxidation in the remediation of ballast water contaminated soil. Soil samples were collected from Otorho Abraka and stimulated with ballast water in a laboratory scale experiment. The soil samples were mixed with solutions containing hydrogen peroxide and ferrous ions at varying concentrations. The reaction proceeded for twelve (12) weeks, then the samples were analyzed for removal of contaminants. There was pH reduction from 5.10 to 4.00, but increase in the total organic carbon from 2.80% to 3.40%. Total phosphorus was between 7.20 - 453mg/l, while total nitrogen ranged from 1.70mg/l to 2.10mg/l. There was also an increase in heavy metal content. Soil texture was slightly affected with Fenton reagent. The result showed a significant reduction in the concentration of pollutants with time, since more hydroxyl radicals reacted with the contaminants. Its efficiency and kinetics was established as first-order reaction