Luz Marina Torrado Gómez

Impacto de los derrames de crudo en las propiedades mecánicas de suelos arenosos

Soil contamination due to involuntary leakage of different products, is a permanent threat caused by economic and social development of communities. In particular, oil spills are common during the oil production process as well as during marketing, transport and storage of collection and distribution sites. There arises the initiative of evaluating changes in the mechanical properties of soils affected by spills of oil industry. For this study were selected the oil as a contaminant, and a sandy soil matrix, such as porous medium saturated with water that was pumped upflow at a rate of 12 ml min-1. We proceeded to sampling at defined time intervals, using 30 cm3 containers, samples whose fat and oil content were determined. Then soil samples were subjected to mechanical characterization and the results compared with the behavior of the soil sample unaffected by the oil spill. It is concluded that the specific gravity, the percentage of absorption and capacity of polluted sandy soil compaction, down with respect to values of undisturbed soil, while there was a slight increase in cutting resistance.