Diesel Fuel-Impacted Soil Surveillance for Petroleum Hydrocarbon Contents and its Utilizing Bacteria Counts in an Abandoned Power Generating Plant Vicinity

Reward Kokah Douglas; Peremelade Perez Araka; Ayebatin Fou; Corresponding Author

doi:10.56201/ijemt.vol.12.no7.2026.pg616.623

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Diesel Fuel-Impacted Soil Surveillance for Petroleum Hydrocarbon Contents and its Utilizing Bacteria Counts in an Abandoned Power Generating Plant Vicinity

Reward Kokah Douglas, Peremelade Perez Araka, Ayebatin Fou, Corresponding Author

Abstract

This pilot study assessed the extent of total petroleum hydrocarbon contents and microbial counts in diesel fuel-impacted soil in abandoned electricity generating power plant yard. A total of 12 soil samples were collected. From 0.2-0.5m depth, 3 samples were collected 1m apart from the generating plant in the wet season. From 0.6-0.9m, 3 samples were collected in same sampling period. Similarly, in the dry season, 6 samples were sampled in the same order as in the wet season. The TPH contents in the wet season were observed to be higher than those in the dry season across all the sampling points. This may be that the dry season enhanced the volatilization of the lower molecular weight hydrocarbons. TPH contents ranged from 14-34mg/kg in the dry season, while in the wet season the range was 18-39mg/kg. However, location 2 was more contaminated with TPH, and more microbial count was observed. Again, the microbial count was observed to be higher in the wet season than in the dry season. This may be that the wet season created optimal environmental conditions for the indigenous hydrocarbon utilizing bacteria in the soil. Results also indicate that the microbial counts decrease with decreasing hydrocarbon contents. From environmental regulatory standards, the TPH contents across the study area were below the regulatory target value (50 mg/kg), which is established under the environmental guidelines and standards for the petroleum industry in Nigeria.

Keywords

Diesel fuelTotal petroleum hydrocarbonSoil pollutionMicrobial countsPolicy

References

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Diesel Fuel-Impacted Soil Surveillance for Petroleum Hydrocarbon Contents and its Utilizing Bacteria Counts in an Abandoned Power Generating Plant Vicinity

Abstract

Keywords

References

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