Modeling of the Contour Water Flooding Technology in Microcosms

The results are presented of modeling the “contour water flooding” biotechnology aimed at cleaning heavily petroleum-polluted agrosoddy-podzolic soils (Albic Retisols (Loamic, Aric)) by application of bacterial–yeast consortium, microalgae, and algal–bacterial–yeast consortium, and mineral fertilizers are presented. The patterns of biotic indicators and the total petroleum hydrocarbon content at various stages of oil destruction are identified. Changes in the number of hydrocarbon-oxidizing microorganisms in the microcosms depend on the biological agent applied. In the case of the soil treatment with microalgae, the population of hydrocarbon-oxidizing microorganisms declines by an order of magnitude at the end of the experiment, whereas in the case of bacterial–yeast and algal–bacterial–yeast consortia, their population has been restored to the 90th day. The biochemical activity in microcosms remains high during the experiment. The results of the experiment prove the efficiency of application oil-oxidizing microbial consortia, including those with microalgae. While being fertilized,the bacterial–yeast and algal–bacterial–yeast consortia exert the maximum purification effect in simulation microcosm experiments. The efficiency of soil purification from total petroleum hydrocarbons reaches 60–63% over 90 days of the experiment. IR spectroscopic data indicate the decline in the share of saturated aliphatic structures and the accumulation of bio-thermodynamically stable aromatic hydrocarbons and oxygen-containing residual components of oil, which are intermediate products of metabolism in the microbial oxidation of oil hydrocarbons.