Effects of oxygen, nitrogen, and temperature on gasoline biodegradation in soil

Biodegradation was considered to be a feasible approach to remediate petroleum hydrocarbon-contaminated soil from a site at the University of Idaho. Before a full-scale treatment process was designed, the biodegradative capacity of the soil's indigenous microorganisms was tested. Gas chromatography was used to measure gasoline vapor components in the headspace above the contaminated soils held in closed containers. In a study of biodegradation kinetics, gasoline degradation rates under various conditions (different soil cores, temperatures, oxygen concentrations, and nutrient concentrations) were tested. It was found that gasoline hydrocarbons could be biodegraded at relatively high rates after appropriate nutrient additions. An unexpected observation was that the optimal concentration of oxygen for the gasoline-degrading microorganisms in these soils was only 10%.