Paper Title
Bioremediation Treatment Optimization Using Bench Scale Test For Hydrocarbon Contaminated Soils – A Case Study From Kuwait Oil Field

Abstract
The Kuwait desert was severely damaged by the detonation and destruction of oil wells and associated infrastructure at the hands ofIraqitroopsduringthe1990-1991 Gulf War (Nada et al,2020).Most of the damages resulted due to burning of around 800 oil wells, which were exploded. Subsequently, the United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC), established a program known as the Kuwait Environmental Remediation Program(KERP) to undertake comprehensive and collaborative remediation of the contaminated land that has an estimated volume in the region of 26 million m3 (Nada, 2020). The United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC), Kuwait National Focal Point (KNFP) and Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) cooperated in a joint project to undertake comprehensive and collaborative efforts to remediate 26 million m3 of crude oil contaminated soil that had resulted from the Gulf War in 1990/1991.The main aim is to remediate a signification portion of the existing and accessible KERP oil contaminated features (Wet oil lake, Dry Oil lakes, Oil Contaminated piles) within 's Kuwait oilfield to the required Remedial Target Criteria (RTC) of 1% Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons (TPH) based on the n-hexane extraction method (HEM) analyzed by USEPA Method 9071B.This paper describes the bench scale study to explore soil behavior under bioremediation technique. The optimization study covers bioremediation efficiency and time line schedule in terms multiple dosages of natural or commercial bacteria, nutrients, biodegradable surfactants, water retention and tilling/aeration. The objective of the bench scale study was to provide baseline data for the water and amendment requirements and for the monitoring program that will be required, as part of the bioremediation process to provide data for the full-scale design to demonstrate that the bioremediation method will meet the Remediation Target Criteria (RTC) for Kuwait soils. Keywords - KERP, KNFP, RTC, TPH, HEM.