Home Project-material EFFECT OF SPENT OIL (ENGINE OIL) ON THE PHYSIOCHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF SOIL

EFFECT OF SPENT OIL (ENGINE OIL) ON THE PHYSIOCHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF SOIL

Dept: BIOLOGY File: Word(doc) Chapters: 1-5 Views: 20

Abstract

Spent/used oil is any oil that has been refined from crude oil, or any synthetic oil that has been used and, as a result of that use, is contaminated by physical or chemical impurities. Examples of used oil include: used motor oil, used hydraulic fluid, used electrical insulating oil, used transmission fluid, used compressor oils, used cutting oils and used coolants. Waste from automobile workshops such as lead acid batteries, gasoline, used asbestos, spent engine oil etc. are discharged indiscriminately in open free land, sewers and gutters and this is channeled to inland and water bodies which affects the growth of plants and microbial diversity when it seeps to the groundwater and also aquatic lives are not spared. In the view of the foregoing, this study therefore seek to examine the concentration of heavy metals in the automobile workshop in Amawbia. The aim of this research is to ascertain the effect of spent oil on the physiochemical properties of soil. Survey design and labor
CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1      Background of the Study

Spent/used oil is any oil that has been refined from crude oil, or any synthetic oil that has been used and, as a result of that use, is contaminated by physical or chemical impurities. Examples of used oil include: used motor oil, used hydraulic fluid, used electrical insulating oil, used transmission fluid, used compressor oils, used cutting oils and used coolants. Waste oil Waste oil is defined as any petroleum-based or synthetic oil that, through contamination, has become unsuitable for its original purpose due to the presence of impurities or loss of original properties.

The difference between spent/used oil and waste oil, "used oil" as any petroleum or synthetic oil that has been used, and as a result of such use is contaminated by physical or chemical properties. "Used oil" is a precise regulatory term. "Waste oil" is a more generic term for oil that has been contaminated with substances that may or may not be hazardous. Any oil contaminated with hazardous waste may itself be a hazardous waste, and if so, must be managed subject to hazardous waste management standards. Both used oil and waste oil require proper recycling or disposal to avoid creating an environmental problem.

The disposal of spent engine oil (SEO) into gutters, water drains, open vacant plots and farms is a common practice in Nigeria especially by motor mechanics. This oil, also called spent lubricant or waste engine oil, is usually obtained after servicing and subsequently draining from automobile and generator engines and much of this oil is poured into the soil (Udom, Mbagwu, and Willie, 2018). There are relatively large amount of hydrocarbons in the used oil, including the highly toxic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (Adedokun and Ataga, 2017). Also, most heavy metals such as Lead, Aluminum, and Iron, (Pb, Al, and Fe), which were below detection in unused lubricating oil, have been reported by (Udo and Fayemi, 2015) to give high values (ppm) in used oil. These heavy metals may be retained in soils in the form of oxides, hydroxides, carbonates, exchangeable cations, and/or bound to organic matter in the soil. Nevertheless, this is dependent on the local environmental conditions and on the kind of soil constituents present in the soil-water system. (Amadi, Samuel and Anthony, 2014) have shown that a marked change in properties occurs in soils polluted with petroleum hydrocarbons, affecting the physical, chemical and microbiological properties of the soil. Oil pollution of soil leads to build up of essential (organic C, P, Ca, Mg) and non-essential (Mg, Pb, Zn, Fe, Co, Cu) elements in soil and the eventual translocation in plant tissues. Although some heavy metals at low concentrations are essential micronutrients for plants, but at high concentrations they may cause metabolic disorders and growth inhibition for most of the plant species. However, plants respond differently to pollutants.

Okon and Udofot, (2012) reported that the contamination of soil with spent engine oil caused growth retardation in plants, with the effect more adverse for tomato (Lycopersicom esculentum) than pepper (Capsicum annum). Maize (Zea mays), a major cereal in Nigeria and many African countries, was chosen for this study because it has become increasingly popular and most farmers have adopted its cultivation. This study aims to evaluate the effects of spent engine oil on soil properties. In urban areas, various types of activities like agriculture, industry and transportation produce large amount of wastes which are classified as either agricultural, industrial, municipal or nuclear wastes.

These wastes from various sources are deposited on the soil surfaces either deliberately applied as fertilizer, sprays or pesticides (Anoliefo and Vwioko, 2015) or inadvertently through small or large leaks (Ojeniyi, 2010) as solids, plastics, crude oil or spent engine oil. Some of these wastes can be recycled into some important products that can be used to meet with the challenges arising from increasing population of Nigeria. They can be recycled into manures and fertilizers for production of crops and animals among others (Atuanya, 2017). There are others that cannot be converted into any beneficial secondary use and therefore pose a serious threat to the environment and one of such is spent engine oil.

Spent oil sometimes referred to as waste engine oil is produced from automobile mechanic shops and mechanical or electrical engine repairers’ shops (Baek and Lee, 2014) after servicing the vehicles engines, generating set and other types of engines. It has dark brown to black colour and it is harmful to the soil environment. This is because it contains a mixture of different chemicals including low to high molecular weight (C15-C21) compounds, lubricants, additives and decomposition products and heavy metals which have been found to be harmful to the soil and human health.



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