title: Use of two-surfactants mixtures to attain specific HLB values for assisted TPH-diesel biodegradation.
abstract: In a surfactant assisted biodegradation process, the choice of surfactant(s) is of crucial importance. The question is: does the type of surfactant (i.e. chemical family) affect the biodegradation process at fixed hidrophillic-lypofillic balance (HLB) values? Microcosm assessments were developed using contaminated soil, with around of 5000 mg/kg of hydrocarbons as TPH-diesel. Mixtures of three nonionic surfactants were employed to get a wide range of specific HLB values. Tween20 and Span20 were mixed in the appropriate proportions to get HLB values between 8.6 and 16.7. Tween/Span60 mixtures reached HLB values between 4.7 and 14.9. Finally, Tween/Span80 combinations yielded HLB values between 4.3 and 15. TPH-diesel biodegradation was measured at the beginning, and after 8 weeks, as well as the FCU/gr(soil), as a measure of microorganisms' development during the biodegradation period. A second aim of this work was to assess the use of guar gum as a biodegradation enhancer instead of synthetic products. The conclusions of this work are that surfactant chemical family, and not only the HLB value clearly affects the assisted biodegradation rate. Surfactant's synergism was clearly observed. Regarding the use of guar gum, no biodegradation enhancement was observed for the three assessed concentrations, i.e., 2, 20, and 200 mg/kg, respectively. On the contrary, TPH-diesel removal was lower as the gum concentration increased. It is quite possible that guar gum was used as a microbial substrate.
authors.affiliation: (Instituto de Ingeniería, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Coordinación de Ingeniería Ambiental, Grupo Saneamiento de Suelos y Acuíferos, Apartado Postal 70-472, Coyoacán 04510, México, DF Mexico. ltorresb@iingen.unam.mx
authors.forename: Luis G
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Torres
authors.forename: Neftalí
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Rojas
authors.forename: Rosario
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Iturbe
mesh_terms: D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D002274:Carcinogens, Environmental / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*; D005685:Galactans / Q000737:chemistry; D005742:Gasoline / Q000032:analysis*; D008351:Mannans / Q000737:chemistry; D053149:Plant Gums; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000378:metabolism*; D013501:Surface-Active Agents / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D002274:Carcinogens, Environmental; D005685:Galactans; D005742:Gasoline; D008351:Mannans; D053149:Plant Gums; D012989:Soil Pollutants; D013501:Surface-Active Agents; C007894:guar gum