Most Probable Rate of Horizontal Spread of Phenanthrene in a Sandy Loam Soil Under Natural Environment

Abstract

The rate of horizontal spread of phenanthrene applied in a plot of land of sandy loam texture is determined in a field experiment of four months duration under natural environment. Efforts were made to study the effect of different physico-chemical parameters of the soil sample on the horizontal spread of phenanthrene. The concentration of the hydrocarbon at different points of time was determined by high-performance liquid chromatographic analysis of soxhlet extract of soil samples drawn from different distances from the point of application of the hydrocarbon. Simultaneously, internal samples were also analysed in order to detect the efficiency of the process of extraction and the extent of degradation during the study period.

The ambient temperature of the place of the experiment was in the range of 23.6 to 35.5°C, which is suitable for microbial activities. From the internal experiment, it was found that there was a 36% loss of phenanthrene which indicates degradation during these four months of the experiment. It has been found that most of the Phenanthrene molecules move a distance of 15 cm from the point of application in the first 60 days. As such the most probable rate of horizontal spread became 2.89 × 10^-8 m s^-1.