Literature review
A number of literature reviews have been documented on using infrared technology to determine the hydrocarbons in contaminated soil. Ten literature reviews will be utilized in the research below. Their reliability had to be checked to ensure that they are scholarly.
A New Perspective to Near-Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy asserts that spectroscopy focuses on the analysis on infrared light as part of wavelength emanated, reflected, or spread from a substance (Ge et al. 2007).
According to the authors, spectral measurement enables the assessment of the amount of light reflected or emanated from a gas, solid, or liquid. Analysis of Diesel Fuel Contamination in Soils by Near-Infrared Reflectance Spectrometry and Solid Phase Microextraction-Gas Chromatography assert that because soil is assorted in nature the standard physicochemical assessment of its characteristics is costly and inefficient (Malley & Hunter 2000).
In this regard, Malley, Hunter, Madari, Reeves, and Machado suggest that the use of spectroscopy and regression analysis presents an appropriate way of assessing the hydrocarbons in contaminated soil (Madari, Reeves, & Machado 2006).
Mid-Infrared and Near-Infrared Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy for Soil Carbon Measurement propose that with the use of visible infrared light between the range of 350 to 2500 nm, the emission reflected from the soil crystals can be replicated alongside total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) substance of the impure soil (Mccarty et al. 2002).
On the other hand, Mid-infrared Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy for the Quantitative Analysis of Agricultural Soils asserts that the replica can be easily be exploited to compute the TPH from unknown soil samples (Reeves &, Mccarty 2001).
Moron and Cozzolino suggest that environmental experts utilize TPH, which is a combination of dissimilar hydrocarbons, as a pointer of petroleum polluted soils (Moron & Cozzolino 2003).
According to Determining The Composition Of Mineral-Organic Mixes Using UV–Vis–NIR Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy, the use of infrared technology allows fast and cost-effective computation of TPH unlike the conventional approaches that are very expensive and time consuming (Rossel, Mcglynn, & Mcbratney 2006).
Development of Reflectance Spectral Libraries for Characterization of Soil Properties illustrates two distinctive absorption peaks (Shepherd & Walsh 2002). The peaks are 1730 nm and 2310 nm. The peaks are illustrated as spectral autographs of hydrocarbon-bearing matter.
On the other hand, Modelling of Soil Organic Carbon Fractions Using Visible–Near-Infrared Spectroscopy focuses of a near infrared fiber optic chemical sensor. The apparatus is used for remote detection of hydrocarbons in soils (Vasques, Grunwald, & Sickman 2009).
On the other hand, Near-IR Reflectance Spectroscopy for the Determination of Motor Oil Contamination in Sandy Loam assesses motor oil polluted sandy loam soil (Stallard, Garcia, & Kaushik 1996). The investigations are carried out using near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy. The investigations illustrate the benefits of adopting the technology for other forms of soil matrices.
Methodology
For this study, the data will be collected through field research. The method entails acquiring, 54 pots, sand, soil, seeds, contaminants, and the necessary apparatus for carrying out infrared spectroscopy. After the collection of the above materials, the pots would be divided into three parts.
The pots would contain 50g to 100g of substances. Among the three parts, one part will comprise of soil. The second part would comprise of sand. The third part would comprise of a mixture of sand and soil. Thereafter, seeds of rapid growing grass will be planted in each pot. After some time, the contaminant would be introduced to some pots.
Afterwards, the pots would be placed in an ideal environment where it will allow the grass to grow as desired. As the grasses grow, their progress would be monitored and documented. Eventually, the soil and sand samples in all the pots would be collected for analysis using the infrared technology.
The samples will be carefully taken out of each pot and placed in sealed glass bottles. The purpose of placing the samples in enclosed glasses is to avoid hydrocarbon volatilization and safeguard the samples’ moisture status. Later, samples will be placed on ice before being taken to the appropriate labs. In the labs the samples will be stored in refrigerators with five degrees Celsius.
In the labs, the contaminated soils would be assessed using infrared technology and other conventional approaches. To assess the reliability of infrared technology in comparison with other conventional EPA approaches, the labs will adopt an environmental monitoring tool. Through this, the broad accurateness of both methods would be obtained with ease.
During the sampling process, 54 samples comprising of contaminated and non-contaminated samples would be utilized. All the samples would be gathered and scrutinized with the help of visible near-infrared diffuse reflectance spectroscopy.
The visible near-infrared diffuse reflectance spectroscopy spectra of soil samples will be utilized in forecasting the TPH content in the samples. The above would be achieved with the use of PLS and BRT models.
After the findings are collected from the lab, they will be compiled and assessed using appropriate software. The software would enable the researchers to come up with tables, charts, or distribution plots. Thereafter, the data will be analyzed for accuracy. From these results, the researchers will be able to confirm infrared technology is more efficient compared with other conventional EPA approaches.
References
Ge, Y., Morgan, C. L., Thomasson, J. A., & Waiser, T 2007, ‘A New Perspective to Near-Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy: A Wavelet Approach’ Transactions of the ASABE, vol. 50, no. 1, pp. 303-311.
Madari, B. E., Reeves, J. B., & Machado, P. L 2006, ‘Mid- and near-infrared spectroscopic assessment of soil compositional parameters and structural indices in two Ferralsols’ Geoderma ,vol. 136, no. 1, pp. 254-259.
Malley, D. F., & Hunter, G. R 2000, ‘Analysis of Diesel Fuel Contamination in Soils by Near-Infrared Reflectance Spectrometry and Solid Phase Microextraction-Gas Chromatography’, Soil and Sediment Contamination, vol. 8, no. 4, pp. 481-489.
Mccarty, G. W., Reeves, J. B., Reeves, V. B., Follett, R. F., & Kimble, J. M 2002, ‘Mid-Infrared and Near-Infrared Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy for Soil Carbon Measurement’ Soil science Society of America journal,vol. 66, no. 2, pp. 640-641.
Moron, A., & Cozzolino, D 2003, ‘Exploring the use of near infrared reflectance spectroscopy to study physical properties and microelements in soils’ Journal Of Near Infrared Spectroscopy, vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 145-146.
Reeves, J. B. &, Mccarty, G. W 2001, ‘Mid-infrared Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy for the Quantitative Analysis of Agricultural Soils’, Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry,vol. 49, no. 2, pp. 766-772.
Rossel, R. V., Mcglynn, R., & Mcbratney, A 2006, ‘Determining the composition of mineral-organic mixes using UV–vis–NIR diffuse reflectance spectroscopy’, Geoderma, vol. 137, no. 1, pp. 70-80.
Shepherd, K. D., & Walsh, M. G 2002, ‘Development of Reflectance Spectral Libraries for Characterization of Soil Properties’ Soil science Society of America journal, vol. 66, no. 3, pp.988-989.
Stallard, B. R., Garcia, M. J., & Kaushik, S 1996 ‘Near-IR Reflectance Spectroscopy for the Determination of Motor Oil Contamination in Sandy Loam’, Applied Spectroscopy, vol. 50, no. 3, pp. 334-338.
Vasques, G. M., Grunwald, S., & Sickman, J. O 2009, ‘Modeling of Soil Organic Carbon Fractions Using Visible–Near-Infrared Spectroscopy’, Soil science Society of America journal, vol. 73, no. 1, pp. 176-177.