Bioelectroremediation of PAH-Contaminated oil-based drilling cuttings assisted by rhamnolipid and β-cyclodextrin
摘要
In this study, the bioelectroremediation (BER) of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from oil-based drilling cuttings (OBDCs) was investigated using a 20 × 10 × 10 cm experimental reactor equipped with a 5 cm permeable reactive biobarrier (PRB) over a duration of 90 days. The effects of rhamnolipid (RL) biosurfactant alone and in combination with β-cyclodextrin (βCD) under varying electric fields and periodic polarity reversals (PPR) were evaluated. RL was produced and characterized using TLC analysis. Key parameters, including pH, electroosmotic flow, electric current, temperature, moisture content, and microbial population, were monitored during the BER process and remained stable, supporting microbial activity. The optimal conditions for BER were an electric field of 1.0 V/cm and a PPR of 2−1, under which the combined use of RL and βCD achieved the highest PAH removal efficiency of 93.15%. Under the same conditions, removal efficiency was 78.80% with RL alone and 67.78% without surfactants, highlighting the positive role of RL in enhancing PAH degradation. First-order kinetic analysis revealed a significantly faster degradation rate in the presence of combined RL and βCD (k = 0.0305 d−1) compared to RL alone (0.0184 d−1) or the absence of surfactant (0.0135 d−1) (p < 0.05). PAHs with fewer rings degraded more efficiently than those with more rings. Compared to standalone electrokinetic or bioremediation treatments, PRB demonstrated superior performance due to the synergistic effect of biological and electrokinetic mechanisms (p < 0.05).