Comparison of bioremediation capabilities of poultry droppings and avocado pear seed cake in petroleum polluted soil

A crude oil polluted soil remediation was investigated using a mixture of avocado pear seed cake and poultry droppings. The seed cake was obtained through the Soxhlet method by extracting the oil from the pear seed. The experiment was carried out within a span of two months. Contamination was done by applying crude oil on 10 experimental reactors containing agricultural soil. The therapeutic treatment was then applied to the reactors, and the soil physicochemical properties were analyzed after set periods. The result shows that pH (6.89%), moisture content (18.1%), electrical conductivity (5430 μs/cm), total organic carbon (0.996%), total petroleum hydrocarbon (32.0 mg/kg) and total nitrogen (2.00%) which is an indication of distinct variation with time with the bacterial count of 9.20 cfu in all the reactors with an increased time. The control reactor does not show significant remediation throughout the study period. However, there was significant degradation of total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) in all the experimental reactors as follows: 76, 67, 55, 86, 78, 69, 81, 73 and 62% for T1, T2, T3, U1, U2, U3, V1, V2 and V3 after 2months. The study revealed that good remediation was achieved by the application of poultry dropping only 0.0324 days-1 compared to the mixture of poultry dropping and avocado pear seed cake (0.0275 days-1). Again, treatment with poultry droppings (PD) only removed 89.65% of TPH while combination of PD+ avocado pear seed cake (APSC) removed 85.41% of TPH after 70 days remediation period as predicted. The 200 g PD only (U1) also increased the amount of nitrogen in the soil which is favorable for plant growth.