Environmental Pollution 125 (2003) 361–368

www.elsevier.com/locate/envpol

Bioremediation of diesel oil-contaminated soil by

composting with biowaste
Kristin Van Gestela, Joris Mergaertb, Jean Swingsb,
Jozef Coosemansa, Jaak Ryckeboera,*
a
Laboratory of Phytopathology and Plant Protection, Faculty of Agricultural and Applied Biological Sciences,
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, W. de Croylaan 42, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium
b
Laboratorium voor Microbiologie, Vakgroep Biochemie, Fysiologie, en Microbiologie, Faculteit Wetenschappen,
Universiteit Gent, K.L. Ledeganckstraat 35, B-9000 Gent, Belgium

Received 19 October 2002; accepted 7 March 2003

‘‘Capsule’’: Composting of biowaste and diesel contaminated-soil is an efficient bioremediation method, with mature
compost as a usable end product.

Abstract
Soil spiked with diesel oil was mixed with biowaste (vegetable, fruit and garden waste) at a 1:10 ratio (fresh weight) and com-
posted in a monitored composting bin system for 12 weeks. Pure biowaste was composted in parallel. In order to discern the tem-
perature effect from the additional biowaste effect on diesel degradation, one recipient with contaminated soil was hold at room
temperature, while another was kept at the actual composting temperature. Measurements of composting parameters together with
enumerations and identifications of microorganisms demonstrate that the addition of the contaminated soil had a minor impact on
the composting process. The first-order rate constant of diesel degradation in the biowaste mixture was four times higher than in the
soil at room temperature, and 1.2 times higher than in the soil at composting temperature.
# 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Bioremediation; Composting; Diesel-contaminated soil; Biowaste

1. Introduction soil (Alexander, 1994). When fresh organic amendments

Soil pollution by petroleum products is a widespread
problem. The past decade, bioremediation techniques
have been developed and improved to clean up soils pol-
luted with hazardous chemicals (Skladany and Metting,
1992; Alexander, 1994; Romantschuk et al., 2000). Exca-
vated petroleum-contaminated soil can be bioremediated
by addition of nutrients (biostimulation), addition of
microbial inocula (bioaugmentation), aeration and turn-
ing, or by a combination of these practices (Alexander,
1994). Also, the addition of organic matter to the hydro-
carbon contaminated soil can be beneficial, as it is a source
of co-substrates, nutrients and microorganisms, and ame-
liorates the structure and water-retaining capacity of the
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +32-16-32-27-36; fax: +32-16-32-
29-89.
E-mail address: jaak.ryckeboer@agr.kuleuven.ac.be (J. Ryckeboer).
0269-7491/03/$ - see front matter # 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/S0269-7491(03)00109-X
(plant debris, sewage sludge) are incubated with the
contaminated soil, a thermophilic phase is likely to
occur and the process is called composting. In contrast,
when mature compost is added to the contaminated
soil, a thermophilic phase will not occur. Composting
strategies for soils contaminated with organic pollutants
in general are recently reviewed by Semple et al. (2001).
The number of studies on composting of petroleum-
contaminated soil and petroleum-based oil wastes is
increasing (e.g. Beaudin et al., 1996, 1999; Al-Daher et
al., 1998; Kirchmann and Ewnetu, 1998; Milne et al.,
1998; Jørgensen et al., 2000; Chaw and Stoklas, 2001;
Namkoong et al., 2002). Elevated temperatures stimu-
late hydrocarbon degradation (Atlas, 1975), and
enhance the contaminant availability by increased solu-
bility and mass transfer (Pignatello and Xing, 1996).
However, in the study of Namkoong et al. (2002) the
temperature was controlled at 20  C, while in some
362 K. Van Gestel et al. / Environmental Pollution 125 (2003) 361–368
other studies the maximum composting temperature
reached only 30  C (Kirchmann and Ewnetu, 1998) or
40  C (Jørgensen et al., 2000). In most studies, the organic
amendment was added at a percentage ranging from 33 to
75%. However, in all these studies the main emphasis was
laid on the degradation of the petroleum products, and
not on the composting of the organic amendment.
In the present work we aimed not only at an enhanced
degradation of diesel, but also at a composting process
which deviates not too much from the normal aerobic
biowaste composting process (Ryckeboer et al., 2003).
Therefore, the contaminated soil was added at only
10% (wet weight) to the fresh biowaste, and the effect of
this polluted amendment on the composting process was
monitored closely by measuring the composting process
parameters and by enumerations and identifications of
microorganisms. Not only a pure biowaste composting
was run in parallel, but also two treatments of con-
taminated soil without organic amendments were inclu-
ded. One batch of soil was incubated at the actual
composting temperature of the soil–biowaste mixture,
while the other was kept at room temperature.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Experimental design
Two 200-l insulated composting bins were used. One
was filled with 100 kg biowaste (vegetable, fruit and
garden waste, paper included), and the content is called
C hereafter. The other was filled with 90 kg biowaste
and 10 kg diesel oil-contaminated soil, its content is
called C+ hereafter. Aerobic composting of C and
C+ was performed for 12 weeks (Boelens et al., 1996).
The composting process was directed through airflow
and moisture content. At regular time intervals, the
content was turned to avoid preferential aeration pores.
The pH, electrical conductivity and C:N ratio of the
fresh biowaste were 4.2, 3.6 mS cm 1 and 19:1, respec-
tively. The dry matter content, temperature and exhaust
gas composition were regularly monitored. Microbial
aspects of the composting of C are extensively treated
by Ryckeboer et al. (2003) and served as a reference for
the composting process of C+. The soil (a loamy sand)
was spiked with commercial diesel oil at a concentration
of 60 g kg 1 fresh weight, to obtain a concentration of 6
g kg 1 after mixing with the biowaste.
Two covered recipients, containing each 10 kg of soil
spiked with diesel oil at 6 g kg 1 fresh weight, were used in
control treatments for diesel oil degradation. One recipient
was kept at room temperature during 12 weeks (S-RT), the
other recipient (S-CT) was placed in a hot-air oven with
forced ventilation, where the temperature was adjusted
daily to the actual composting temperature of C+. The
soil in both recipients was regularly turned and moistened.
At days 1, 6, 9, 13, 21, 27, 34, 41, 48, 55, 62, 69, 76
and 85, representative samples of 300 g were taken from
C , C+, S-RT and S-CT, as described in more detail
by Ryckeboer et al. (2003).
2.2. Chemical analysis
Analysis of diesel oil-content of soil and soil–compost
samples was based on NEN 57331 (Nederlands Nor-
malisatie-Instituut, 1991). The fresh samples were
extracted with acetone/hexane. After washing with dis-
tilled water, the organic extracts were purified with 0.5 g
Florisil (Chromabond Florisil), which adsorbs humic
acids from the biowaste. A 100-ml extract was injected
into a gas chromatograph (Fisons GC 8180 Ultra
Trace), equipped with a flame ionization detector and
DB-1 column (length 30 m, internal diameter 0.32 mm,
film thickness 0.52 mm methyl silicone). Initial tempera-
ture was kept at 50  C for 5 min, then it was increased
to 325  C by 10  C min 1, and maintained at that tem-
perature for 8 min. Total mineral oil concentration was
calculated by manual integration of the chromatograms,
calibrated by an external diesel standard. For each
sample, only one analysis of diesel content was carried
out, after thorough subsampling and mixing. The var-
iance among multiple chemical analyses of one sample
was observed to be negligible.
2.3. Microbial analysis
The method followed for enumeration of micro-
organisms from the soil and soil-biowaste samples is
described in detail by Ryckeboer et al. (2003). For enu-
meration of diesel-degrading organisms, Petri plates
with solidified Bushnell-Haas medium (Song and Bar-
tha, 1990) were supplemented with 40 ml filter-sterilized
diesel, acting as the sole carbon source.
Dominant microorganisms were isolated from the
compost mixture as described by Ryckeboer et al.
(2003). Bacteria were identified by gas chromato-
graphic analysis of their cellular fatty acids. Cells were
cultured on Trypticase Soy Broth Agar for 24–48 h at
28  C. Fatty acid methyl esters were prepared and
separated by gas–liquid chromatography, as described
earlier (Mergaert et al., 1994), and identified by the
Microbial Identification System (MIS) database,
TSBA version 4.1 (Microbial ID Inc. Newark, Dela-
ware, USA). The dominant fungi were identified by
light microscopy, based on their vegetative and gen-
erative characteristics (Domsch et al., 1993). Using
the diesel-supplemented Bushnell-Haas medium, all
isolated fungi were examined on their capacity to
degrade diesel.
1
Dutch norm for the determination of the mineral oil content in
soil.
 K. Van Gestel et al. / Environmental Pollution 125 (2003) 361–368
2.4. Enzyme assay
Enzyme activity of soil and soil–biowaste samples was
measured using the fluorescein diacetate (FDA) hydro-
lysis assay (Schnürer and Rosswall, 1982). The proce-
dure used for determination of FDA hydrolytic activity
is described in detail by Ryckeboer et al. (2003).
2.5. Phytotoxicity test
Two assays were used to test the phytotoxicity of the
composts after 12 weeks of composting. In the first
assay, described by Sudrajat (1990), seeds of Lepidium
sativum L. were placed on filter paper soaked with a
compost extract (1:5 v/v) or with distilled water (con-
trol). Germination and root elongation were the para-
meters to evaluate. In the second assay, described by
Vandersanden et al. (1994), germination of seeds of
L. sativum L. was tested on substrates composed of
the compost, white sand and distilled water. The pro-
portion of these constituents was determined by the
electrical conductivity of the compost. White sand
acted as a control. The percentage of germination was
evaluated.
3. Results
3.1. The composting process
The oxygen concentration in the outlet gases of C+
(Fig. 1) dropped remarkably in the beginning, reaching
a minimum of 8% on day 8, but rose immediately
Fig. 1. Physical parameters measured during the composting process.
363
afterwards, reaching again 21% on day 23. From day 20
on, the C+ mixture became very compact and the diesel
oil hindered proper aeration. Therefore, wood chips
(30% w/v) were added to C+ on day 29.
The temperature course of C+ (Fig. 1) was very
similar to that of the control composting of C (Ryck-
eboer et al., 2003), only the thermophilic phase of C+
was slightly shorter.
The dry matter content of C+ (Fig. 1) rose from 33%
on day 1 to 54% on day 85. No significant differences
were observed between the dry matter content of C+
and C . In C+, the total loss of dry weight by miner-
alization was 16%, which is 38% lower than in
C (Ryckeboer et al., 2003). When calculating the
mineralization, the initial weight of the wood chips was
subtracted from the final total weight of C+.
3.2. Analysis of diesel content
As certain organic substances from biowaste can
mimic diesel substances in our analysis, samples of
C were analysed each time a sample of C+ was ana-
lysed. The concentrations found in C were subtracted
from the values found for C+. The presented values for
C+ are always the corrected values. The detectable
diesel concentration in C+, S-RT and S-CT decreased
as shown in Fig. 2. Concentrations of diesel (mg kg 1
dry matter) are plotted against time of composting. The
three substrates were initially contaminated with 6 g
diesel per kg fresh matter. As the initial dry matter
content of C+ was much lower than that of S-RT and
S-CT, the initial concentration on a dry matter basis is
much higher than that of S-RT and S-CT. At the end of
364 K. Van Gestel et al. / Environmental Pollution 125 (2003) 361–368
Fig. 2. Reduction of diesel oil concentration in the contaminated soil–biowaste and contaminated soil during composting/temperature treatment.
the 85 days composting/treatment, reductions in diesel
concentration of 84, 35 and 86% are attained in C+,
S-RT and S-CT, respectively. In absolute terms, 12904,
2078 and 6987 mg diesel kg 1 dry matter have dis-
appeared from C+, S-RT and S-CT, respectively.
Natural logarithmics of the diesel concentrations were
plotted versus time, followed by linear regression. The
determination coefficients (R2) (Table 1) show that a
first-order kinetic model fits well for the three decay
curves. The kinetic parameters (Table 1) based on the
first-order degradation model, indicate that the highest
rate of reduction of diesel occurred in C+ (k=0.0217/
day). The reduction of diesel in S-CT was 17.5% slower
(k=0.0179/day) than in C+, but 3.4 times higher than
in S-RT (k=0.0052/day). During the 12 weeks of C+
composting, 16% of the dry matter was mineralized, so
the diesel reduction in C+ is slightly underestimated by
the earlier procedure. The wood chips were always
removed from the samples before analysis. Analyses of
the wood chips taken from the compost show that the
adsorption of diesel oil on the wood chips was negligible
(data not shown). Only total diesel concentrations were
determined along the treatments. However, from visual
comparison of the chromatograms on day 1 and day 85
(data not shown), it follows that especially n-alkanes
and lower molecular weight constituents were pre-
ferentially degraded.
Table 1
Coefficient of determination and parameter values for the first-order
degradation of diesel in the different substrates
a
Substrate Coefficient of First-order rate Ratio k/k Half-life
determination R2 constant k (day 1) (S-RT) t1/2 (days)
C+ 0.878 0.0217 4.17 31.8
S-RT 0.822 0.0052 1.00 132.7
S-CT 0.838 0.0179 3.44 38.5
a
C+: content of compost bin filled with 90 kg biowaste and 10 kg
diesel oil-contaminated soil; S-RT: 10 kg of soil spiked with diesel oil
at 6 g kg 1 fresh weight incubated at room temperature; S-CT: 10 kg
of soil spiked with diesel oil at 6 g kg 1 fresh weight incubated in a
hot-air oven of which the temperature was adjusted daily to the actual
composting temperature of C+.
During the thermophilic phase of the C+ compost-
ing, a thin layer of diesel oil could be observed on the
condensed water from the outlet gases. However, only
limited analyses of the water samples could be done,
resulting in concentrations from 40 to 120 mg l 1. The
exhaust gasses from S-CT were not analysed.
3.3. Enumeration of microorganisms
The number of mesophilic prokaryotes in C+
evolved essentially the same as in C (Ryckeboer et al.,
2003). After a strong decrease with the onset of the
thermophilic phase, the number of mesophilic prokar-
yotes increased again in the cooling phase, and became
stabilized after day 28, with 108–5.108 colony forming
units per gram dry matter. Mesophilic streptomycetes
were counted separately on a selective medium. Again,
the number of streptomycetes in C+ followed essentially
the same pattern as in the control C (Ryckeboer et al.,
2003). As for C (Ryckeboer et al., 2003), mesophilic
fungi could only be isolated from C+ after the heat peak.
After day 30, the number of fungi in C+ was significantly
(P40.05) higher than in C . After plating on diesel
enriched-medium, we found that the numbers of diesel-
degrading prokaryotes in C+ and C are very similar.
With the exception of the thermophilic phase, more die-
sel-degrading prokaryotes were present in the composts
(C+ and C ) than in the soils (S-CT and S-RT).
3.4. Identification of dominant microorganisms
During the composting process, 75 dominant prokar-
yotes and 76 dominant diesel-degrading prokaryotes
were isolated from C , C+, S-RT and S-CT. The
identifications of prokaryotes from C+ are summarized
in Table 2. In the first two phases of the C+ composting,
bacilli were dominant, while in the cooling and matura-
tion phases also other Gram-positive (Gordona, Micro-
coccus, Actinomadura) and Gram-negative bacteria (e.g.
Acinetobacter, Pseudomonas, Ochrobactrum) appeared.
The identifications of diesel-degrading prokaryotes (not
included in the table) can be summarized as follows:
mainly species of the genera Bacillus, Pseudomonas,
 K. Van Gestel et al. / Environmental Pollution 125 (2003) 361–368 365

Table 2
Species diversity of the dominant microorganisms isolated during different composting phasesa

Isolation days: composting phase Isolated prokaryotes (numbers of strains) Isolated fungi (numbers of strains)
and their capacity to degrade dieselb

Days 1–6: starting material Bacillus pumilus (4) Yeast (5)

Bacillus simplex Unidentified (2)
Bacillus subtilis/amyloliquefaciens (2)
Brevibacillus agri (2)
Paenibacillus pabuli/polymyxa (2)
unidentified bacterium
Streptomyces sp. (4)

Days 9–21: thermophilic phase Bacillus lentimorbus Yeast (3)

Bacillus megaterium
Bacillus oleronius
Bacillus sphaericus
Bacillus subtilis/amyloliquefaciens (4)
Brevibacillus agri
Paenibacillus pabuli/polymyxa (9)

Days 27–48: cooling down phase Acinetobacter calcoaceticus Aspergillus sp. +

Bacillus megaterium Emericella sp. +
Bacillus sphaericus Gliocladum sp. +++
Gordona bronchialis Morteriella sp. +
Micrococcus luteus Mucor sp. +++
Ochrobactrum anthropi (2) Paecilomyces sp. +
Pseudomonas aeruginosa Penicillium sp. +
Pseudomonas balearica (2) Scopulariopsis sp. +
unidentified bacteria (4) Scopulariopsis sp. (2) ++
Streptomyces sp. (6) Trichoderma sp. ++++
Trichoderma sp. (6) +++
Unidentified (4)

Days 55–85: maturation phase Acinetobacter calcoaceticus (3) Fusarium sp. ++

Actinomadura libanotica Geotrichum candidum +
Bacillus sphaericus Gliocladium roseum +
Pseudomonas aeruginosa (2) Gliocladum virens ++++
Pseudomonas balearica (2) Mucor sp. +++
unidentified bacteria (2) Scopulariopsis sp. ++
Streptomyces sp. (10) Trichoderma sp. (2) +++
Trichoderma sp. ++++
Trichurus spiralis +
Unidentified (5)
a
The number of isolates are given in parentheses, if more than one.
b
Evaluation of growth on a diesel-medium: : no growth; +: limited growth, medium not covered after 9 days; ++: moderate growth, medium
covered after 9 days; +++: fast growth, medium covered after 5 days; ++++: explosive growth, medium covered after 3 days.

Streptomyces, Acinetobacter and Rhodococcus were iso-
lated from C , C+, S-RT or S-CT. Acinetobacter sp.
were isolated only from C+, S-RT or S-CT and not from
the control composting C . Rhodococcus was isolated
only from the contaminated soil. Identifications of fungi
isolated from C+ and their capacity to grow on a diesel-
supplemented medium are presented in the right column
of Table 2. Species diversity increased conspicuously from
day 27 on. Species of Gliocladium, Mucor, Scopulariopsis
and Trichoderma were dominantly present during the
cooling and maturation phases, and showed moderate to
explosive growth on the diesel-supplemented medium.
Trichoderma spp. were not isolated from the control
composting C (Ryckeboer et al., 2003), but they were
found to be very abundant on the wood chips, which
were added to C+ on day 29.
3.5. Enzyme assay
Microbial activity in C+, as measured by the hydro-
lysis of fluorescein diacetate, followed the same course
as the microbial activity in the control composting of
C (Ryckeboer et al., 2003).
3.6. Phytotoxicity assays
Two assays were used to test the phytotoxicity of
C and C+ after 12 weeks of composting. However,
366 K. Van Gestel et al. / Environmental Pollution 125 (2003) 361–368
neither C nor C+ had a toxic effect on germination
and root elongation of Lepidium sativum.
4. Discussion
4.1. The composting process
During the first 20 days, the composting of the con-
taminated soil–biowaste mixture evolved similar as the
control composting (Ryckeboer et al., 2003), including
the typical development of a heat peak (de Bertoldi et
al., 1985). However, after this thermophilic phase, the
mixture became compacted such that aeration was hin-
dered. Probably the fine texture of the soil caused this
lack of structure, while the diesel oil hindered the eva-
poration of water. The problem was rapidly solved by
addition of wood chips, which is commonly used as a
bulking agent in composting of contaminated soil (e.g.
Chaw and Stoklas, 2001). Near the end of the com-
posting process the measured enzyme activity decreased,
indicating that the compost had reached maturity. The
total mineralization of the biowaste was lower than in
the control composting, probably as a result of compe-
tition with mineralization of the diesel hydrocarbons.
Also Kirchmann and Ewnetu (1998) reported the influ-
ence of the oil contaminant on the mineralization of the
compost.
The microbiology of the contaminated soil-compost-
ing did not deviate much from that of the control com-
posting (Ryckeboer et al., 2003). Bacillus species were
dominant in the beginning and during the thermophilic
phase of the composting process, which is in agreement
with the control composting (Ryckeboer et al., 2003)
and other composting studies (e.g. Herrmann and
Shann, 1997; Ishii et al., 2000). During the cooling and
maturation phases, Gram-negatives were relatively
more abundant in the contaminated compost than in
the control compost, which is in agreement with the
finding of Venosa et al. (2000). Trichoderma was identi-
fied as the most dominant fungus in the contaminated
compost, but was not isolated from the control com-
posting (Ryckeboer et al., 2003). However, Trichoderma
was found to be very abundant on the wood chips,
suggesting that this fungus has been introduced to the
compost via these wood chips. Furthermore, the addi-
tion of diesel can stimulate fungal proliferation (Llanos
and Kjoller, 1976; Song and Bartha, 1990; Bundy et al.,
2002).
4.2. Diesel-degrading microorganisms
With the exception of the thermophilic phase, more
diesel-degrading prokaryotes were present in the two
compost mixtures than in the two batches of con-
taminated soil, while the presence of diesel oil in the
compost mixture seems to have no influence. In agree-
ment, Bundy et al. (2002) found no effect of oil con-
tamination on the ability of soil culturable
microorganisms to utilize hydrocarbon-based car-
boxylic acids as sole carbon source. Hence, the number
of diesel-degrading prokaryotes seems to be mainly
dependent on the total number of prokaryotes.
Although the total number of prokaryotes was not
determined in soil samples, it can be assumed to be
much lower than in the composts. Most growth factors
are less optimal in the soil than in the compost, more-
over, petroleum contaminants are deficient in nitrogen
and phosphorus (Providenti et al., 1993). For pristine
soils and composts, Miethe et al. (1994) found a positive
correlation between their microbial activity and their
potential to degrade diesel, with compost having the
highest score for both parameters.
With the selective diesel-medium, Acinetobacter sp.
were isolated from the contaminated compost and soils,
but not from the control composting. Acinetobacter
species have been reported to be ubiquitous in nature
and to be able to degrade a wide range of hydrocarbons,
including petroleum oils (e.g. Towner et al., 1991; Lal
and Khanna, 1996). Rhodococcus, which is also known
as a genus with petroleum-degrading capacity (War-
hurst and Fewson, 1994), was isolated with the diesel-
medium from the two batches of contaminated soil.
Fungal strains of the genera Gliocladium and Tricho-
derma showed explosive growth on the selective diesel-
medium, which is in agreement with earlier studies
(Llanos and Kjoller, 1976; Davies and Westlake, 1979;
Dragun, 1988).
4.3. Degradation of diesel oil
An 85% reduction in diesel content was reached, as
well during the composting treatment as during the
composting–temperature treatment, while only 35%
reduction in diesel content was reached in the soil at
room temperature. The initial diesel concentration (on a
dry weight basis) in the composting treatment was
however almost double of that in the composting–tem-
perature treatment. Reductions in hydrocarbon con-
centration of 50, 71 and 99% were reached in a lab-scale
compost bin with maple leaves and alfalfa as amend-
ments (Beaudin et al., 1996), in a biopile with bark chips
(Jørgensen et al., 2000) and in a small compost-reactor
with amendments of sewage sludge or mature compost
(Namkoong et al., 2002), respectively. Comparison of
treatments is however difficult as different soils, con-
taminations and composting times are used.
A first-order degradation model fitted well to all the
treatments. First-order degradation kinetics are repor-
ted in many studies on petroleum degradation (e.g.
Kirchmann and Ewnetu, 1998; Jørgensen et al., 2000;
Namkoong et al., 2002). The kinetic parameters showed
 K. Van Gestel et al. / Environmental Pollution 125 (2003) 361–368
that the reduction rate in the composting treatment was
four times higher than in the soil at room temperature
and only 1.2 times higher than in the soil at composting
temperature. In other words, the composting tempera-
ture (in concert with the microorganisms) accounted for
82.5% of the observed reduction in the composting
treatment, while only 17.5% of this reduction could be
attributed to additional composting-related factors
(nutrients, organic matter, abundance of microorgan-
isms). The biowaste in our study had an initial C:N
ratio of 19. The C:N ratio of the soil was not deter-
mined, but this was probably much higher. Baudin et al.
(1999) tested different C:N ratios in composting of con-
taminated soil with organic amendments. A C:N ratio
of 17 (the lowest tested) resulted in the highest degra-
dation. In our study, the temperature seems to have a
great influence on the reduction of the diesel content.
Beaudin et al. (1999) found that more hydrocarbons were
degraded through composting when the temperature pro-
file was kept at 23  C rather than imposing a 5-day ther-
mophilic plateau (50  C). However, when the
thermophilic phase (50  C) was maintained for 30 days,
the hydrocarbon degradation was the highest (Beaudin et
al., 1999).
Importantly, the observed reduction in diesel concen-
tration may not only be caused by degradation, but also
by volatilization and/or adsorption to organic sub-
stances. During the thermophilic phase of the compost-
ing treatment and the compost–temperature treatment,
volatilization of diesel compounds could be detected by
their smell. Due to technical limitations, however, we
were not able to study the amount of hydrocarbons
which was lost by volatilization. Temperature treatment
of a sterilized batch of contaminated soil could have
given us a clue about the fraction volatilized by the
heath, but this was not included in our experiments. On
the other hand, Namkoong et al. (2002) observed that
the volatilization of n-alkanes decreased when the
amount of organic amendment to the soil increased.
Thus, there might have been less volatilization from the
compost treatment than from the soil at composting
temperatures. From our experiments it is clear that a
filter or collection system must be placed on the outlet
of exhaust gasses, such that volatilized hydrocarbons
can be captured and degraded afterwards.
Sorption of hydrophobic diesel compounds to soil
organic substances is known to increase with increasing
organic matter content (Means et al., 1980). Especially
polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were found to
adsorb strongly to compost (Kästner et al., 1995). On
the other hand, humic acids of compost were found to
enhance desorption of hydrophobic organic compo-
nents from the soil (Janzen et al., 1996). Petroleum
hydrocarbons are often not completely degraded, giving
rise to secondary metabolites. These compounds could
become bound to the organic matrix of the compost too
367
(Verstraete and Devliegher, 1996). However, according
to the two germination assays in this study, no immedi-
ate phytotoxic properties could be attributed to the
compost after 12 weeks of composting together with the
diesel-contaminated soil.
Acknowledgements
J.M. and J.S. are indebted to the European Union
(AIR2 grant CT93-1099) for financial support. The
authors wish to express special thanks to O.W.S. nv.
(Ghent, Belgium) and to the Soil Service of Belgium
(Bodemkundige Dienst van België, Heverlee, Belgium)
for the technical assistance. The valuable comments of
A. Daelemans (Bodemkundige Dienst van België,
Heverlee, Belgium) are greatly appreciated.
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