chief3 - 29-12-2012 at 00:46
Hello friends, its been a while ... 
===================
I have some place ... and in the cellar on the floor there is heating-oil, soaked into the groundstones ; it's not enough to poison any environment
... but it smells and I dont like it.
How can I make it away ? Since its in maybe 20 or more m2 of floor ... organic solvents are excluded.
I have some amount of NaOH ... : Can it be useful ? What else is cheap and does react with the heating-oil alias diesel ?
Oscilllator - 29-12-2012 at 03:27
I don't suppose it would be practical to light it on fire?
Long chain hydrocarbons such as oil/diesel are pretty resistant to attack, I can think of anything common off the top of my head that will react with
them.
What's your cellar floor made of?
hissingnoise - 29-12-2012 at 04:45
I came across this!
May be of some help . . .
hissingnoise - 29-12-2012 at 04:52
Or perhaps, diesel-eating bugs and enzymes!
Sedit - 29-12-2012 at 09:50
We use an oil absorbing substance in the HVAC industry. Its a Zeolite that contains perfumes I'm pretty sure. You dump it onto the spill and wait for
it to suck it up.
smaerd - 29-12-2012 at 10:10
You could try kitty litter, probably a lot cheaper then zeolites. Be careful cleaning it up, I'm not sure what "alias diesel" is or means, but if its
diesel fuel a spark from scrubbing too hard using a wire brush could cause ignition.
99chemicals - 29-12-2012 at 10:17
I remember when i had a tank removed from my basement the guys used stuff called sweet powder. I am not sure what it was but it covered up the smell
of oil.
Edit:
Found something http://www.amazon.com/Rectorseal-68502-685021-Pound-Neutroda...
Or this http://www.amazon.com/Rectorseal-68512-685121-Pound-Odorgon-...
[Edited on 12-29-2012 by 99chemicals]
Endimion17 - 30-12-2012 at 07:34
If the oil is soaked into the groundstone, into the pores, there's pretty much nothing you can do that would return its state to the original
condition. Spill kits suck up fresh spills. If the oil is soaked in, they can't do anything.
I have doubts about these microbe kits. I think it depends on how long the oil was seeping into the ground.
Mechanical removal of the surface layer might be the only solution, followed by a period of weathering and then covering with a fresh layer of fine
concrete.
Try to get an expert's opinion. It's costly, but you'll know what to do. It's cheap in the long term, as you won't be forced to buy and try different
stuff.
[Edited on 30-12-2012 by Endimion17]
chief3 - 30-12-2012 at 08:11
The oil was on/in the porous groundstones for years; not a fresh condition. May it not be oxidized ?
==> Not even with some oxidizers in solution ? Persulfate ? Permanganate ? Don't dare to think of chlorates or hypochlorite though ... 
The cellar can be ventilated ...
If it would not be 2 cellars of it and maybe only a small spot I might try something like:
==> Heating CaSO4 in a furnace to 1000 [Celsius] ... and throwing it onto the ground ... : It would heat the ground and each time get some of the
oil ... ; but it would need much time and labour ...
==> ... or maybe repetitevely giving some acetone onto the ground and recovering it ... or setting the ground on a point aflame : The acetone then
would carry some of the oil ... ; but much acetone would be needed ...
Or maybe going to microwave it ... : The ground would certainly be susceptible to the microwave-radiation ... and the oil-vapor could then be
distilled away ...
But this all would require a lot of attention ... and materials etc. ... ; Exchanging the ground or grinding it wouyld be unpractical ... .
So: Any more Ideas ? The stuff is normal heating heating-oil, the same as diesel fuel ... , just differently colored because of taxation.
chief3 - 30-12-2012 at 09:05
Besides I have the same also on some wooden floor: 2 or 3 m^2 heavily soaked with the stuff.
Endimion17 - 30-12-2012 at 09:11
Soak it with LOX and smash it with a hammer. /sarcasm
m1tanker78 - 30-12-2012 at 09:19
Buy a sack of hydrated lime (calcium hydroxide). Spread some on the concrete floor - liberally. Take a broom and sweep it around side to side
repeatedly. Lightly sweep off the excess lime. Leave the residual lime on the ground for as long as possible. This is probably the cheapest option and
least labor intensive.
Tank
hyfalcon - 30-12-2012 at 11:33
If you try that be sure to wear a Tyvex suit and respirator. I wouldn't want to be breathing hydrated lime dust.