Сomparison of changes in the activity of microorganisms and normal alkanes distribution in oil sludge and oil contaminated soil during short-term incubation
The changes in the activity of microorganisms and in the composition of normal hydrocarbons in oil sludge and oil polluted arable soil during a 28-day incubation was compared. The oil sludge with a petroleum content of 14% and gray forest soil polluted with petroleum to the level of its concentration in oil sludge were used. The results of assessing the activity of microorganisms by measuring the emission of CO<sub>2</sub> from the studied objects showed that by the middle of the experiment their activity decreased and began to recover by the end of the incubation period. The hydrocarbons with the number of carbon atoms C16-C20 initially dominated in the oil sludge, while hydrocarbons of the composition C13-C18 dominated in the petroleum-contaminated soil. A significant increase in the content of hydrocarbons for oil sludge is observed by the 21st day, and for the soil by the 28th day of the experiment, which was also accompanied by a relative increase in the proportion of heavy fractions of n-alkanes (C21-C29). The results of the experiment showed that changes in the content of n-alkanes are more intense in oil sludge than in oil-contaminated soil, which is also confirmed by data on determining the activity of microorganisms.