Recent Researches in Geography, Geology, Energy, Environment and Biomedicine
Field Implementation Of Phytoremediation Abdul Rahman Abas*, Mushrifah Idris, Siti Rozaimah Sheikh Abdullah, Ahmad Khairi Husin, Raja Farzarul Hanim, Rozita Ayub, Roslina Mat Yazid & Iqmal Husin
Abstract— The soil field application testing involved growing of selected potential plants on a sludge farm condition in order to see the survival of the selected plants and evaluate the effectiveness of the Phytoremediation under real site conditions. The study can generate design and cost data for full-scale application. The implementation study covers selection of suitable plants, design concept for planting the plant species, preparation of the site, installing the necessary instrumentation, actual planting of the plants, maintenance of plant health through consistent watering and periodic fertilization and monitoring of the plants growth and assessing effectiveness of the phytoremediation activities in the soil. The environmental site assessment (ESA) at site and detailed site investigation and implementation for remediation and clean up technology were used to define the phytoremediation performance. The results indicate that the applied phytoremediation system at the site has shown a great performance with a reduction of contaminant concentration of heavy metals and hydrocarbon.
Keywords— Phytoremediation, Biological-AccumulationCoefficient (BAC), petrosludge, Heavy metals, hyperaccumulator plants, Lead (Pb), Arsenic (As), Hydrocarbon. I. INTRODUCTION
R
ESEARCHES on phytoremediation have been vigorously conducted in the USA and Europe (US Environmental Protection Agency 1998; 2000). Phytoremediation has many advantages: It can clean-up a wide range of contaminants and is also being cost-effective, natural, passive and aesthetic (Susarla et al. 2002; Tsao 2003). Due to views of trees and green spaces that can provide important psychological and social benefits, phytoremediation has the potential to treat more than on-site contamination. It also helps to create stronger neighborhood and industrial districts (Schwitzguébel 2000). For phytoremediation to be effective, the appropriate plant needs to be matched to the site (Wang et al. 2003; White et al. 2006). This study was carried out to determine the selected plants based on sampling from an industrial site in western part of Peninsular Malaysia. The study focuses on
Manuscript received Mei 28, 2011: Revised version received xxx. Abdul Rahman Abas*, Mushrifah Idris, Siti Rozaimah Sheikh Abdullah, Ahmad Khairi Husin, Raja Farzarul Hanim, Rozita Ayub, Roslina Mat Yazid & Iqmal Husin is with the Phytoremediation Research Group, Department of Chemical and Process, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor, MALAYSIA. (corresponding author to provide phone: +603-89214796; e-mail:
[email protected]).
ISBN: 978-1-61804-022-0
115
remediation of sludge site for the treatment of hydrocarbon and heavy metals. II. MATERIALS AND METHOD A. Implementation of Phytoremediator plants The remediation or clean up technology opted for the site was a combination of phytoremediation and design. The activities involved were plant selection and design, site preparation, planting procedures, periodic soil sludge sampling and analysis. 1) Plant Selection and Design Concept The plant was selected from the screening process during a site visit at the dedicated site. From 23 plants studied, 11 species, selected as phytoremediator plants, were planted to physically observe the ‘survival’. Out of those 11 species, four plants were selected to be implemented at the site. Tose plants were Melastoma malabatricum, Scirpus grossus and Senna sp. species. The planting concept of the selected plants was intended for different purpose and application. The two main areas of consideration were on vertical depth and lateral coverage of the rooting system of the selected plants: i. Anchor Plant (coverage of 0.6 m depth area) – Senna tora ii. Shrub Plant (coverage of 0.3 m depth area) – Scirpus grossus, Melastoma malabatricum L. and Scirpus mucronatus iii. Creeping (coverage of 0.1m depth area) – Cayratia trifolia 2) Site Preparation The site was prepared in such a way weeding of existing grasses was done and about 10 tonnes of soil from the adjacent land farm was taken and mixed with the sludgy soil sludge. Liming was also carried by mixing 20 kg of calcium carbonate to obtain neutral pH condition. 3) Planting Procedures and sampling The procedure for planting of any plant species has been developed as the following. First, the planting zone was measured. Planting area consists of 1 m x 1 m and the plants should be planted according to the spacing for filing the gap. All operations described was performed using suitable approved machines or by manual handlings. The hole in soil sludge was prepared on the same day of planting. The dimension of planting holes was 20 cm width and 20 cm depth. Garden soil was firstly applied in the prepared hole. Then, the plant was placed in the middle of the hole and the remaining
Recent Researches in Geography, Geology, Energy, Environment and Biomedicine
2) Planting trials for Melastoma, Ludwigia, Paspalum, Scirpus and Senna plants species During the planting, procedure for planting was conducted for some species in order to see the plants’ survival in the original site condition. The plants species planted during the planting were Melastoma malabatricum, Scirpus grossus and Senna sp species as shown in the following photos (Figure 2). The planting were conducted for one week.
garden soil was used to fill up the holes. The soil of planted holes was compacted by foot stamping. All plants were tagged to document the plant number and species based on location or site for future inspection. The height and the diameter of the planted species were recorded. Watering was required to ensure the survival of the plant. Each plants soil was sampled weekly (7 days gap). III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION A. Early Site Investigation and Assessment 1) Observation of the original site conditions The photos in Figure 1 show the original site condition of the dedicated sludge farm to be remediated. It shows the sludgy condition of the site and the dark color of the soil sludge and the sump drain on the site.
(a)
(a)
(b)
(b)
(c) Fig. 2 (a) and (b): The site condition after planting (day 0) (c) Figure 1 (a), (b) and (c): The site condition before planting
ISBN: 978-1-61804-022-0
116
Recent Researches in Geography, Geology, Energy, Environment and Biomedicine
3) Implementation of Phytoremediator plants Figure 3 shows the site condition after the implementation of phytoremediation. The photos show the plants were all well growing at the site area.
remediate the sludge efficiently. Based on the planting concept as explained in the method, the arrangement of each type of plant has successfully reduced the contaminants at different depth. The design consists of Senna tora as an anchor plant which covers area and depth of 0.6 m. The Scirpus grossus, Melastoma malabatricum L. and Scirpus grossus are shrub plants that were planted around the anchor plant to cover the area and depth down to 0.3 m. Creeping plant using Cayratia trifolia was meant to remediate depth area down to 0.1 m.
(a)
Fig. 4: Variations of heavy metals in soil sampling on Day 0 and 70
(b)
Fig. 5: Comparison of Total Petroleum Hydrocarbon (TPH) on Day 0 and 70 (mg/kg) IV. CONCLUSIONS (c)
As a conclusion, the planting design concept as introduced in the real field implementation of phytoremediation system has shown a good reduction in the contaminant concentrations of TPH and heavy metals.
Fig. 3 (a), (b) and (c): The site condition after planting (day 70) Figure 4 and 5 respectively show the total amount of contaminant (heavy metals and hydrocarbon) in soil taken at the site. The samples were taken around each tagged plants to measure the contaminant concentration in soils. On average, most contaminant shows a reduction after the phytoremediation system was applied. The challenge in designing the planting concept at the dedicated site is generally based on how the plants could
ISBN: 978-1-61804-022-0
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT We appreciate the effort of all people involved in obtaining the results included in present study. This research was funded by Tasik Chini Research Centre, UKM. The authors gratefully acknowledge the time and effort of associated researchers assisting in the planting at the greenhouse.
117
Recent Researches in Geography, Geology, Energy, Environment and Biomedicine
REFERENCES [1]
[2]
[3] [4]
[5]
[6]
[7]
Schwitzguébel, J.P. 2000. Potential of Phytoremediation, An Emerging Green Technology. 346-350. Lausanne: Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. Susarla, S., Medina, V.F. & McCutcheol, S.C. 2002. Phytoremediation: An Ecological Solution of Organic Chemical Contaminatin. Ecotoxicol Envron Safety 17: 157-166. Tsao, D.T. 2003. Advances in Biochemical Engineering Biotechnology: Phytoremdiation. Verlag: Springer. US Environmental Protection Agency (1998). A Citizen's Guide to Phytoremediation. US EPA, Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response, Washington D.C. US Environmental Protection Agency (2000). Introduction to Phytoremediation. US EPA, Office of Research and Development, Washington DC Wang, Q., Cui, Y. & Dong, Y. 2002. Phytoremediation of Polluted Waters: Potentials and Prospects of Wetland Plants. Acta Biotechnol. 22 (1-2): 199-208. White, P.M., Wolf, D.C., Thoma, G.J. & Reynolds, C.M. 2006. Phytoremediation of Alkylated Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in A Crude Oil-Contaminated Soil. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution. 169: 207– 220.Stephan, C., Palmgren, M. G. & Ute Krämer. 2002. A long way ahead: understanding and engineering plant metal accumulation. Trend in Plant Science 7(7): 309-315.
ISBN: 978-1-61804-022-0
118
