Simulation of a surface spill of different diesel/biodiesel mixtures in an ultisol, using natural attenuation and bioaugmentation/biostimulation

Abstract Accidents caused by leaks and/or spills on soils need to be addressed. Natural attenuation, biostimulation and bioaugmentation can be useful bioremediation strategies for decontamination processes in soils of diesel/biodiesel mixtures. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the degradation rate of the different fuels (B0, B20 and B100) in an ultisol under natural attenuation and biostimulation/bioaugmentation during 60 days of incubation in a controlled microcosm simulating a surface spill over soil. The degradation of different diesel/biodiesel mixtures was monitored for up to 60 days by dehydrogenase activity, respirometry by CO2 release, the most probable number of heterotrophic and degrading microorganism and gas chromatography. The bacterial inoculum employed for biostimulation/bioaugmentation strategy consisted of Bacillus megaterium, Bacillus pumilus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia. The two bioremediation strategies have showed great degradation rates. The natural attenuation was effective for B0 and B20 treatments. The addition of the bacterial consortium and macronutrients contributed to the increased degradation of pure biodiesel in relation to natural attenuation, with higher rates for CO2 release, enzymatic and degrading activity. It is suggested that the bacterial consortium has proven effective for presenting significant values for such parameters until the end of the 60-day incubation period.