A review on the application of chemical surfactant and surfactant foam for remediation of petroleum oil contaminated soil

Soil, exposed to petroleum oil contaminants (in the form of petrol, diesel, gasoline, crude oil, used motor oil), may cause potential damage to the environment, animal and human health. In this review article, mechanisms of the petroleum oil contaminant removal from soil by chemical surfactant systems such as surfactant solution, surfactant foam and nanoparticle stabilized surfactant foams are explained. Laboratory based research works, reported within the last decade on the application of similar systems towards the removal of petroleum oil contaminant from the soil, have been discussed. It is an important fact that the commercial implementation of the chemical surfactant based technology depends on the environmental properties (biodegradability and toxicity) of the surfactants. In recent times, surfactant foam and nanoparticle stabilized surfactant foam are becoming more popular and considered advantageous over the use of surfactant solution alone. However, more research works have to be conducted on nanoparticle stabilized foam. The impact of physicochemical properties of the nanoparticles on soil remediation has to be explored in depth.