Abstract
The overall goal of this research is to significantly improve soil washing of oil-based drill cuttings and oil-contaminated soils. In past research within our institute we have demonstrated that surfactant-enhanced soil washing is more efficient and economical than water-only washing for removing gasoline from contaminated soil. In this research we will extend our previous work to more hydrophobic oils (i.e., diesel, mineral and heavy crude oils) and to oil-based drill cuttings (i.e., diesel as the oil and shale as the cuttings). Several hypotheses for improving soil washing will be evaluated in this research; these hypotheses are based on detergency fundamentals and the relationship between surfactant phase behavior, oil-water interfacial tension and washing efficiency. This research will include laboratory-based testing for oil-based drill cuttings and oil-contaminated soils. The project will culminate in a field demonstration of soil washing for oil-contaminated soil, which will be conducted by Surbec Environmental, LLC in collaboration with university researchers.