Qfd to Determine Experimental Biopiles Requirements, to Be Used at Bench-scale as a Strategy Against Soil Pollution with Oily Waste

Abstract

Due to the increase in the amount of oil used, large volumes of hydrocarbons are released annually into the environment, constituting one of the main causes of soil pollution worldwide. The Center for Environmental Studies of Cienfuegos, Cuba; implemented an experimental project to develop an innovative technique as a resilient alternative to this environmental problem. The objective was to implement the Quality Function Deployment (QFD), to determine the design requirements of the experimental units to be used at the bench scale, for the biodegradation of different biopile treatments. The QFD offered a systematic approach to translating attributes into engineering features. The concentrations of microorganisms, nutrients, and hydrocarbons in the biopile were the characteristics that accumulated more than 50 % of the relative weights of the first level matrix. The initial concentration of hydrocarbons and the percentages of moisture and bulking agents in the mixture obtained the highest relative weights in the second level. The percentage of bulking agents was identified as an opportunity to reduce costs and improve the effectiveness of bioremediation and stimulate the circular economy. The results enabled delineating the experimental protocols for the engineering design, which ensured to build the bench-scale prototype of the experimental units for the evaluation of various treatments of biopiles ecotechnology as a resilient alternative against soils hydrocarbon pollution.