Wu, GuozhongCoulon, FredericYang, YueweiLi, HongSui, Hong2014-01-302014-01-302013-08-31Guo-Zhong WU, F. COULON, Yue-Wei YANG, Hong LI, Hong SUI, Combining Solvent Extraction and Bioremediation for Removing Weathered Petroleum from Contaminated Soil, Pedosphere, Vol. 23, Issue 4, August 2013, pages 455-463, ISSN 1002-0160, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1002-0160(13)60038-7.1002-0160http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1002-0160(13)60038-7http://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/handle/1826/8197This study aimed to remediate a highly contaminated soil with weathered petroleum using an integrated technology combining solvent extraction and biodegradation. Soils were washed using a composite organic solvent consisted of hexane and pentane (4:1 v/v) and then bioremediated in microcosms which were bioaugmentated with Bacillus subtilis FQ06 strains and/or rhamnolipid. The optimal solvent extraction conditions were determined as extraction for 20 min at 25 °C with solvent-soil ratio of 6:1 (v/w). On this basis, total petroleum hydrocarbon was decreased from 140,000 to 14,000 mg kg-1, which was further reduced to < 4000 mg kg-1 by subsequent bioremediation for 132 days. Sustainability assessment of this integrated technology showed its good performance for both short- and long-term effectiveness. Overall results encouraged its application for remediating contaminated sites especially with high concentration weathered hydrocarbons.NOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Pedosphere. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Pedosphere, Vol. 23, Issue 4, August 2013, pages 455-463, ISSN 1002-0160, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1002-0160(13)60038-7.Article