Decontamination of oil-polluted soil by cloud point extraction

An extraction procedure based on cloud point phase separation of nonionic surfactants was used to remove oil contamination from soils. The detergent employed was Triton X-114, and its clouding behavior was monitored by means of a fluorescence probe. Changes in the I (1)I (3) ratio of pyrene indicated gradual dehydration of the detergent micelles upon heating. The rate of phase separation, and the volume and water content of the micellar phase were determined. In the practical clean-up, 85-98% of the oil present in the soil was found to enter the micellar phase of the separated washing liquid. A 15-min washing time with 3-5% detergent was found to be sufficient for this degree of contaminant removal from soil containing 0.009-0.017% oil, using a liquid:solid ratio of 5:2. The extraction efficiency decreased with increasing carbon content of the soil. The process holds promise for large-scale treatment of oil-polluted soils.