Studies of Effects of Petroleum Products Spillage on Water and Soil at Mwavumbo in Kilifi County, Kenya.
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Date
2014-03-06
Authors
Ketko, Augustine
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Abstract
Oil spills on land and sea are environmental disasters that can cause both short and long-term
pollution. These effects are very deleterious though several oil remediations have been
developed, but still a wide spectrum of biotic community suffers the impact. This study sought
to determine the effects of petrol, diesel and kerosene blend on both water and land. Blend of
petrol, diesel and kerosene were poured into fixed volume of water and soil by consistently
varying their quantities of volume. The pH of sampled soil and water with petrol, diesel and
kerosene blend spillage were determined periodically over three months at interval of one month.
Thermal pollution on land and water were determined by carrying out a set of experiments
involving measurements of temperature. Absorbance and transmittance of the petroleum
products blend was determined using spectrophotometer. The model of analysis of absorbance
and transmittance of electromagnetic radiation was Beer's Lambert law. Porosities of pure soil
samples together with soil blended with petrol, diesel and kerosene were determined using
porosity model method. Permeability of pure soil samples together with soil blended with petrol,
diesel and kerosene were determined using Darcy's method and analyzed using Darcy's law.
From the analysis, petroleum products blend spillage on water and soil was found to raise
temperature and pH of soil and water and also absorbance and transmittance of water. It was also
established that petroleum products blend spillage on soil lowers porosity and soil aeration but
increases permeability of soil. Use of solutions of surfactant to remediate soil with petroleum
products spillage was effective in lowering permeability of soil
Description
Department of Physics, 2013. TP 691 .A9