Browsing by Author "Ayotamuno, M. J."
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Item Open Access Bio-remediation of a sludge containing hydrocarbons(Elsevier, 2007) Ayotamuno, M. J.; Okparanma, R. N.; Nweneka, E. K.; Ogaji, S. O. T.; Probert, S. D.Bio-augmentation has been used as a bio-remediation option for hydrocarbon-contaminated, oily-sludge restoration. This sludge was obtained from the Bonny-Terminal Improvement Project (BTIP) for Bonny Island, near Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Its total hydrocarbon-content (THC) was 69,372 mg/kg of sludge. Three treatment reactors (X, Y and Z) and one control reactor (A) were charged with 1500 g of oily sludge and 250 g of agricultural soil (i.e. an oily sludge to soil ratio of 6:1), the mixture homogenized and allowed to settle for seven days before various CFUs were added to reactors X, Y and Z. Reactor A did not receive any bio-preparation. The agricultural soil served both as a nutrient and a microbe carrier. With regularly scheduled mixing and watering, the THC reduction in the oily sludge varied between 40.7% and 53.2% within two weeks as well as between 63.7% and 84.5% within six weeks of applying the bio-remediation. The CFU counts of the added bio-preparation varied between 1.2 × 1212 and 3.0 × 1012 CFU/g of sludge and decreased to 7.0 × 1011 CFU/g of sludge by the end of the sixth week. The pH of the degrading sludge fluctuated between 6.5 and 7.8 during the same period. When compared with the performance of the indigenous microbes in the control sample, the added bio-preparation evidently increased the THC reduction rate in the oily sludge.Item Open Access Bioremediation of a crude-oil polluted agricultural-soil at Port Harcourt, Nigeria.(Elsevier, 2006-11) Ayotamuno, M. J.; Kogbara, R. B.; Ogaji, S. O. T.; Probert, S. D.A combination of treatments, consisting of the application of fertilizers and oxygen exposure, was evaluated in situ during a period of six weeks. Conditions of a major spill were simulated by sprinkling crude-oil on experimental cells containing agricultural soil. The remedial treatments were then applied and the soil characteristics analyzed after set periods. Soil physicochemical parameters, such as moisture content, pH value, electrical conductivity as well as organic-carbon and total-nitrogen contents, showed distinct variations with time. The total heterotrophic-bacteria (THB) count in all the treatment cells increased with time. The control cell, O (which was not treated) indicated no signs of remediation within the study period. The hydrocarbon losses (50–95%) experienced in the five other treatment-cells revealed the effectiveness in degrading the hydrocarbon contaminant. The results of this study indicate that the application of increased concentrations of nutrients (by the application of fertilizers) lead to greater rates of biodegradation of petroleum-polluted agricultural soils.Item Open Access Farm mechanization leading to more effective energy-utilizations for cassava and yam cultivations in Rivers State, Nigeria(Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam., 2006-12-01T00:00:00Z) Nkakini, S. O.; Ayotamuno, M. J.; Ogaji, S. O. T.; Probert, S. D.Surveys have been conducted, under the auspices of the Ministry of Agriculture and Agricultural Development Projects (ADPs), in the 23 local-government areas of the Rivers State, Nigeria. A structured questionnaire, personal visits to farms and interactions with information repositories were used. The quantities of energy consumed by tractors used in activities associated with the growing of cassava and yam crops in those areas were compared with traditional operations, using just manual labour. Within the period of 1986–2004, the total energy utilizations in the production of these crops, in the 23 local government areas, were 2738.87 and 33.5 MJ for tractor-power and traditional-manual operations, respectively. The tractorization intensity (TI) dropped from 0.352 hp/ha in 1986 to 0.345 hp/ha in 2004. This result was below the presently advocated 0.5 hp/ha for agricultural operations in order to increase crop production. This study identified the causes of this shortfall and recommended, at least for the short- term future, that farm industrialization of all sectors should be subsidizeItem Open Access Petroleum contaminated ground-water: Remediation using activated carbon.(Elsevier, 2006-11) Ayotamuno, M. J.; Kogbara, R. B.; Ogaji, S. O. T.; Probert, S. D.Ground-water contamination resulting from the leakage of crude oil and refined petroleum products during extraction and processing operations is a serious and a growing environmental problem in Nigeria. Consequently, a study of the use of activated carbon (AC) in the clean up was undertaken with the aim of reducing the water contamination to a more acceptable level. In the experiments described, crude-oil contamination of ground water was simulated under laboratory conditions using ground-water samples collected from existing hand-dug wells at Eagle Island, Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Different masses of the absorbent (i.e., activated carbon) were then added to the samples of ground water. The so treated water samples were left to equilibrate for 7 days, after which the total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) contents of the samples were measured. Adsorption isotherms were derived for the two forms of activated carbon used, namely granular activated-carbon (GAC) and powdered activated-carbon (PAC). Results of the TPH analyses showed that activated carbon is an excellent means for the stripping-off of the contaminant: there were decreases in contaminant concentration from an initial concentration of 9304.70 mg/l to average final concentrations of 361.00 and 12.37 mg/l, that is, 96% and 99.9% resulting from the same amounts of GAC and PAC applications respectively. The results of this study revealed that the powdered form of AC would be very effective in the remediation of petroleum-hydrocarbon contaminated ground water and its use is therefore recommended.