Modern technology for bioremediation of soil contaminated with creosote oil on the premises of Sleeper Treating Plant S.A in Koźmin Wielkopolski – BIOREM

Aim of the Project
The aim of the project is an original and innovative technology of bioremediation of contaminated soil on the premises of Sleeper Treating Plant Spółka Akcyjna in Koźmin Wielkopolski. The developed new bioremediation technology combining bioaugmentation, biostimulation and enzymatic bioremediation will clean up the creosote-polluted soil and provide a necessary decrease in the content of xenobiotics to the levels required by soil quality standards, specified in the Regulation of the Polish Ministry of Environment (Journal of Laws of 2002, No. 165 item 1359). The main advantages of the proposed technology are: simplicity, low installation costs and easy control of the biodegradation process. The main objective is that the purification should take place in conditions as close as possible to the natural ones, without introducing factors posing an additional threat to the system. The proposed technology might be an interesting solution for companies dealing with the impregnation of railway sleepers and other wooden elements using creosote oil, companies involved in the production and storage of creosote oil, companies dealing in the storage of wooden products impregnated with creosote oil and companies dealing with the reclamation of brownfield sites.

Actions

The schedule of tasks assumes ten stages assigned to jointly operating research units: Wood Technology Institute, Lodz University of Technology and Poznan University of Technology, which have many years of experience in solving of microbiological, biochemical and technological problems with regard to bioremediation of the soil environment. The stages include the following research and development works:

1. Qualitative and quantitative analyses of the composition of contamination in the soil polluted with creosote oil.
2. Isolation and characteristic of microorganisms from the areas contaminated with creosote oil;
3. Biochemical analyses of the contaminated area.
4. Screening of fungal enzymatic agents and selection of bioagents.
5. Development of a modern technology of bioremediation of the contaminated area.
6. Pilot bioremediation in lab. conditions encompassing different variants of bioremediation.
7. Field tests of bioremediation of creosote contaminated soil on the premises of Sleeper Treating Plant (tests at a quarter-technical and technical scale-an area of 818 m²).
8. Monitoring of biochemical and microbiological parameters during the cleaning process of soil contaminated with creosote oil.
9. Scientific and technological supervision of the production of bioagents in Technological Park and of field work on the premises of the Treating Plant.
10. Tests of the contaminated soil on the premises of the Treating Plant for changes in the content of creosote oil after 12 months–assessment of the effectiveness of the developed bioremediation technology.

As a result of tests carried out on a quarter-technical scale at the Sleeper Treating Plant Spółka Akcyjna in Koźmin Wielkopolski between May and August 2020, a high bioremediation efficiency of PAHs degradation in soil contaminated with creosote oil was achieved – at the level of 66.5% to 81.7%. Of the three bioremediation options the most effective one was selected and used in October 2020 to clean the Treating Plant soil. 750 l of bioagent was prepared in IBCs and used for the inoculation of 380 m2 of the contaminated soil. In the early stages of field work (October 5, 2020) and after a month (November 2, 2020) soil samples were taken to determine the contamination level (analysis of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in soil). The commenced remediation works on a technical scale for cleaning the entire area planned in the BIOREM project (818 m²) will last until September 2021.