RIPI Researchers Successfully Carry Out Phytoremediation of Oil-Contaminated Soil
An area in the Tangeh Gandommkar District located in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province in the Southwestern part of Iran, which was previously contaminated with oil, was cleaned up with the technical knowhow of researchers at Research Institute of Petroleum Industry (RIPI).
The RIPI is affiliated with National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC).
According to a report by the RIPI public relations department, the operation to clean the oil-contaminated area in Tangeh Gandommkar District started last year with local technical know-how during which the phytoremediation was carried out by adding elements required for contaminated soils in that area.
The RIPI report added that phytoremediation was used to clean the area, while the research institute received help from the other companies and institutes in neighboring Isfahan province as well as Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province.
Phytoremediation, the practice of using vegetation for remedying the contaminated soil in situ is a cheap approach that is applied to clean up oil-contaminated soil. It is possible to treat the PAHs and petroleum hydrocarbons among others using this method.
“In this project, 570 saplings were planted in the downstream and upstream areas of the Maroon oil pipeline located in Gandommkar District, and in that process, the plant roots interacted very well with the bacteria that decomposed the oil compounds in the soil. That resulted in faster decomposition of pollutants by bacteria in the soil.”
The RIPI report concluded to say that the results from tests carried out by environmental laboratories found out that the project was successfully completed and hydrocarbon pollution rate in the soil in that area lowered to standard 0.1% rate.
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