Browsing by Author "Chinnakwe, E. C."

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Phytostimulation of agricultural soil differentially contaminated with crude oil, using vigna unguiculata
    (UP, 2013-12) Ogbulie, T. E.; Okereke, J. N.; Chinnakwe, E. C.
    Phytostimulation of crude oiI contaminated agricultural soil was carried out using vigna unguiculata. Different volumes of Bonny light crude oil vis-a-vis l00ml, 200ml, 400m1 and 800ml were used to pollute the soil after planting. Gas Chromatographic analysis revealed the total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) of the samples in the green house to be 56mg/kg, 129mg/kg, 146mg/kg and 552mg/kg for the four concentrations respectively. The TPH of the samples front field experiment also recorded 58mg/kg, 122mg/kg, 267mg/kg and 613 mg/kg for the different concentrations respectively. Results obtained from the gas chromatographic (GC) analysis during this treatment process also depicted tire different alkane groups that were removed from the interaction to be within the range of C7 to C12; and C33 to C40 alkanes for samples in the field. Samples in the greenhouse also gave similar results except for the pot polluted with 800ml of crude oil where the only alkane groups degraded were C7 to C9. Although, the values of the growth rate of the plants indicated that plants in the greenhouse performed much better than the plants in the field both before and after pollution, there was a general decrease in the rate of growth per plant after some days of pollution. Nevertheless, a steady growth was observed from 192h till a slight increase ensued at 384h. Statistical analysis using T-test of SPSS Software oil for Windows Evaluation Version however showed that there was no significant difference in the rate of crude absorption by plants in the green house and in the field. Generally, the results showed that V. unguiculata be a promising process in stimulating polluted soil for effective remediation.