Evaluación del bagazo de las palmas aceiteras Elaeis Guineensis y Elaeis Oleífera en el tratamiento de suelos contaminados con TPH en el cantón Francisco de Orellana.

Abstract

Soil pollution by Total Petroleum Hydrocarbon (TPH) spills in Francisco de Orellana canton was the main problem of this study, as it affects resource quality and poses health risks to communities surrounding. To find an economical and efficient alternative for the remediation of these soils, an oil palm bagasse application was proposed. Since it is an industrial waste available in the locality. The methodology involved the application of six treatments of African Palm (Elaeis guineensis) and American Palm (Elaeis oleifera) bagasse, in two concentrations: 98:2 and 96:4, for 20 days. In addition, two replicates were carried out for each treatment. To determine the efficiency of the treatments, the bagasse of the two palms was characterized. In addition, the initial physicochemical characterization of the soil and the final characterization after the conclusion of the treatments were carried out. Soil characterization included analyses of macronutrients, micronutrients, metals, pH, electrical conductivity (EC), sodium absorption ratio (SAR), and TPH. The initial characterization results revealed that electrical conductivity concentrations and TPH exceeded the values established in the 97-A ministerial agreement by more than 70 and 50 times, respectively. However, after the final characterization, it was observed that the bagasse treatments were efficient in reducing metal concentrations. Likewise, conductivity levels were reduced by more than 10 times. As for TPH, with the G-B treatment, 56 percent of this contaminant was removed. In this context, it is concluded that to obtain more evidence of the efficiency of bagasse in the remediation of contaminated soils, it is necessary to increase the number of treatment repetitions and explore other parameters that could affect the results.