Investigation of ethyl lactate as a green solvent for desorption of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) from contaminated soil

• Published in: Environmental Science and Pollution Research
• Main Author: Jalilian Ahmadkalaei S.P.; Gan S.; Ng H.K.; Abdul Talib S.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Springer Verlag 2016
• Online Access: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84982273347&doi=10.1007%2fs11356-016-7462-y&partnerID=40&md5=4ab800cf6d220dcf0194177e98b2ecee

Treatment of oil-contaminated soil is a major environmental concern worldwide. The aim of this study is to examine the applicability of a green solvent, ethyl lactate (EL), in desorption of diesel aliphatic fraction within total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) in contaminated soil and to determine the associated desorption kinetics. Batch desorption experiments were carried out on artificially contaminated soil at different EL solvent percentages (%). In analysing the diesel range of TPH, TPH was divided into three fractions and the effect of solvent extraction on each fraction was examined. The experimental results demonstrated that EL has a high and fast desorbing power. Pseudo-second order rate equation described the experimental desorption kinetics data well with correlation coefficient values, R2, between 0.9219 and 0.9999. The effects of EL percentage, initial contamination level of soil and liquid to solid ratio (L/S (v/w)) on initial desorption rate have also been evaluated. The effective desorption performance of ethyl lactate shows its potential as a removal agent for remediation of TPH-contaminated soil worldwide. © 2016, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.