Treatment of Heavy Oil Contaminated Sand by Microwave Energy

Abstract

Abstract

Microwave (MW) was applied to enhance the removal of heavy oil (diesel and marine fuels) from contaminated sandy soil using granular activated carbon (GAC) as the dielectric medium. Adding GAC to the surface layer of the sand containing diesel fuel or marine fuel and subjecting the soil to 700 W MW irradiation for 30 s led to better removal efficiencies than without GAC addition by 9.5% (92.5% vs. 83%) for diesel fuel, and 11.5% (89.5% vs. 78%) for marine fuel. Additionally, GAC is an excellent MW absorbing material for converting MW energy into thermal energy. When GAC is added as the dielectric medium to convert the MW energy, the soil temperature rose from 52°C to 64°C, because the heat was transferred from GAC to the soil through GAC–soil interface. Meanwhile, volatile gas contained in the soil passes through the soil-GAC interface to reach the high-temperature GAC where the heavy oil is thermally cracked.