Recent Advances in Soil Cleanup Technologies for Oil Spills: a Systematic Review

The mishaps involving oil containers, tanker collisions, leaks as a result of ruptured oil pipelines, etc. that result in crude oil spills are a very significant topic of concern. Recently, hundreds of oil disasters have occurred, causing enormous economic and human harm. The oil spill adheres to the surface of the silt, making it difficult to immediately clean up the soil. The polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in oil have harmful consequences that include being teratogenic, mutagenic, and carcinogenic. Additionally, oil spills may adversely affect humans and the environment by getting into the food chain directly or indirectly. Since removing oil from the soil is an expensive process, there is an urgent need for efficient removal techniques. Over time, numerous researchers have examined the effects of these spills on the soil and created a variety of technologies for their remediation. This review article offers a deep analysis of the technologies used to clean up oil-contaminated soil, including bitumen, diesel, crude oil, petroleum, lubricating oil, and bunker oil. Among the techniques covered are chemical oxidation, electrokinetic remediation, bioremediation, phytoremediation, solvent extraction at high temperatures, coal agglomeration, aerogels, and gelators. Each of these technologies was extensively covered, along with both their benefits and drawbacks. As a result, no one remediation technique is thought to be the ideal approach for cleaning up oil-contaminated soils. It has been shown that the choice of cleanup technique depends on the types of contamination, since a poor choice may hinder high removal efficiency.