Bioremediation of Heavy Crude Oil Contamination
نویسندگان
چکیده
Crude oil contamination is one of the major environmental concerns and it has drawn interest from researchers and industries. Heavy oils contain 24-64% saturates and aromatics, 14-39% resins and 11-45% asphaltene. Resins and asphaltenes mainly consist of naphthenic aromatic hydrocarbons with alicyclic chains which are the hardest to degrade. Crude oil biodegradation process, with its minimal energy need and environmentally friendly approach, presents an opportunity for bioremediation and as well for enhanced oil recovery to utilize heavy oil resources in an efficient manner. Biodegradation entails crude oil utilization as a carbon source for microorganisms that in turn change the physical properties of heavy crude oil by oxidizing aromatic rings, chelating metals and severing internal bonds/chains between molecules. Biodegradation does not necessarily lower quality of crude oil as there are cases where quality was improved. This paper provides information on heavy crude oil chemistry, bioremediation concept, biodegradation enzymes, cases of Microbial Enhanced heavy crude Oil Recovery (MEOR) and screening criteria towards a better understanding of the biodegradation application. Through the utilization of single microorganisms and consortia, researchers were able to biodegrade single pure hydrocarbon components, transform heavy crude oil fractions to lighter fractions, remove heavy metals and reduce viscosity of crude oil.
منابع مشابه
Effect of nutrient enrichments on the bacterial assemblageof Antarctic soils contaminated by diesel or crude oil
There is an urgent need to develop new technologies to address the problem of soil remediation in high-latitude regions. A field study was initiated in January 1997 in two contaminated soils in Terre Adélie (Antarctica) with the objective of determining the long-term effectiveness of two bioremediation agents on total and hydrocarbondegrading microbial assemblages under severe Antarctic conditi...
متن کاملBioremediation of Crude Oil Using Bacterium from the Coastal Sediments of Kish Island, Iran
BACKGROUND Much of the environment is affected by petroleum contamination. It imposes serious health problems for humans as well as serious environmental impact. Bioremediation is an important consideration for removing environmental pollutants because, compared with other technologies, it incurrs lower costs and is environmentally compatible. METHODS Crude oil degrading bacteria were isolate...
متن کاملCrude Oil Treatment Leads to Shift of Bacterial Communities in Soils from the Deep Active Layer and Upper Permafrost along the China-Russia Crude Oil Pipeline Route
The buried China-Russia Crude Oil Pipeline (CRCOP) across the permafrost-associated cold ecosystem in northeastern China carries a risk of contamination to the deep active layers and upper permafrost in case of accidental rupture of the embedded pipeline or migration of oil spills. As many soil microbes are capable of degrading petroleum, knowledge about the intrinsic degraders and the microbia...
متن کاملResponses of microbial community from tropical pristine coastal soil to crude oil contamination
Brazilian offshore crude oil exploration has increased after the discovery of new reservoirs in the region known as pré-sal, in a depth of 7.000 m under the water surface. Oceanic islands near these areas represent sensitive environments, where changes in microbial communities due oil contamination could stand for the loss of metabolic functions, with catastrophic effects to the soil services p...
متن کاملBioremediation of petroleum hydrocarbons from crude oil-contaminated soil with the earthworm: Hyperiodrilus africanus
A study on the bioremediation potentials of the earthworm Hyperiodrilus africanus (Beddard) in soil contaminated with crude oil was investigated. Dried and sieved soils were contaminated with 5 ml each of crude oil with replicates and inoculated with earthworms and monitored daily for 12 weeks. Physicochemical parameters such as pH, total organic carbon, sulfate, nitrate, phosphate, sodium, pot...
متن کامل