Treatment of Diesel-Contaminated Soil by Bioaugmented Composting with Bacteria from the Larva Tenebrio Molitor

In this study, soil composting and bioaugmentation processes were combined to remediate diesel-contaminated soil. Deciduous corn flour, wheat bran, and sawdust were used as co-substrates for soil composting. In addition, consortia of bacteria from the inner tract of the Tenebrio molitor larva were isolated and selected for the bioaugmentation of the composting reactors. It was observed that the isolated inoculum enhanced the treatment and combined with deciduous corn flour, a higher efficiency (87%) and a better removal rate (9.10% diesel removed/week) were registered. In soils with a concentration of 11,796 mg diesel/kg, this combined treatment reduced, in 10 weeks, the pollutant to values below the maximum permissible limits in soils stated by Mexican regulations.