Effect of Oil Pollution on Water Characteristics of Loessial Soil

Abstract

Northern Shaanxi is the birthplace of the oil industry. In the process of large-scale oil and gas transportation and extraction, oil leakage and inevitability will inevitably result, causing some pollution to soil and groundwater. The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of oil pollution on soil moisture characteristics. In this study, the loessial soil in northern Shaanxi was used as the research object to determine the wettability, capillary water rise and saturated hydraulic conductivity of soils under five different pollution gradients (0%, 0.5%, 1%, 2% and 4%). The results showed that when the soil was polluted by oil, the wettability of the soil will change, resulting in a certain degree of water repellence. In the same rising period, the uncontaminated soil capillary water rose significantly higher than the oil-contaminated soil, and the higher the degree of pollution, the smaller the capillary water rise. Oil pollution made soil saturated hydraulic conductivity decrease with the increase of pollution concentration, although saturated hydraulic conductivity decreases, but for loessial, it was within an order of magnitude.