Ultrasonic desorption of petroleum hydrocarbons from crude oil contaminated soils.

Ultrasonic irradiation was applied to improve the desorption of petroleum hydrocarbons (PHC) in crude oil from three types of soil. Soil A was an Ottawa sand, while soil B and soil C were fine soils that contained 27.6% and 55.3% of silt and clay contents, respectively. It was found that the ultrasonic desorption was highly related to soil types, with the highest and the lowest desorption occurring in coarse soil (i.e., soil A) and finer soil (i.e., soil C), respectively. Under the experimental conditions, the maximum ultrasonic desorption enhancement of the total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) reached 22% for soil A, 61% for soil B, and 49% for soil C, respectively. The maximum enhancement on the F2 (n-C10 to n-C16), F3 (n-C16 to n-C34), and F4 (n-C34 to n-C50) fractions of PHC reached 91, 44, and 51% for soil B, and 90, 38, and 31% for soil C, respectively. The desorption enhancement also illustrated an increasing trend with initial soil TPH concentration.