Microbial enhanced heavy crude oil recovery through biodegradation using bacterial isolates from an Omani oil field
نویسندگان
چکیده
BACKGROUND Biodegradation is a cheap and environmentally friendly process that could breakdown and utilizes heavy crude oil (HCO) resources. Numerous bacteria are able to grow using hydrocarbons as a carbon source; however, bacteria that are able to grow using HCO hydrocarbons are limited. In this study, HCO degrading bacteria were isolated from an Omani heavy crude oil field. They were then identified and assessed for their biodegradation and biotransformation abilities under aerobic and anaerobic conditions. RESULTS Bacteria were grown in five different minimum salts media. The isolates were identified by MALDI biotyper and 16S rRNA sequencing. The nucleotide sequences were submitted to GenBank (NCBI) database. The bacteria were identified as Bacillus subtilis and B. licheniformis. To assess microbial growth and biodegradation of HCO by well-assay on agar plates, samples were collected at different intervals. The HCO biodegradation and biotransformation were determined using GC-FID, which showed direct correlation of microbial growth with an increased biotransformation of light hydrocarbons (C12 and C14). Among the isolates, B. licheniformis AS5 was the most efficient isolate in biodegradation and biotransformation of the HCO. Therefore, isolate AS5 was used for heavy crude oil recovery experiments, in core flooding experiments using Berea core plugs, where an additional 16 % of oil initially in place was recovered. CONCLUSIONS This is the first report from Oman for bacteria isolated from an oil field that were able to degrade and transform HCO to lighter components, illustrating the potential use in HCO recovery. The data suggested that biodegradation and biotransformation processes may lead to additional oil recovery from heavy oil fields, if bacteria are grown in suitable medium under optimum growth conditions.
منابع مشابه
Effects of the addition of waste cooking oil on heavy crude oil biodegradation and microbial enhanced oil recovery using Pseudomonas sp. SWP-4
The present work aims to investigate the effects of the addition of waste cooking oil (WCO) on heavy crude oil biodegradation and microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR) using Pseudomonas sp. SWP-4. Growth kinetics show Pseudomonas sp. SWP-4 had a maximum dry cell weight of 1.73 g/L and cell-surface hydrophobicity of 62.4% against n-hexadecane when degraded the crude oil with the addition of WCO...
متن کاملBioremediation of Heavy Crude Oil Contamination
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 en...
متن کاملMicrobial Enhanced Oil Recovery Using Biosurfactant Produced by Alcaligenes faecalis
A bacterial strain (designated as Alcaligenes sp. MS-103) isolated from oil sample of the Aghajari oilfield in the south of Iran, was able to produce an effective extracellular lipopolysaccharide biosurfactant (1.2±0.05 g/l) on molasses as a sole carbon source. The highest surface tension reduction to level 20 mN/m was achieved by biosurfactant produced by cells grown on molasses under optimum ...
متن کاملEnhanced Bioremediation of Brass Crude-Oil (Hydrocarbon), Using Cow Dung and Implication on Microbial Population
The present study has used soil samples from Nigeria, contaminated with Brass crude-oil, to determine its biodegradation through enhanced biostimulation with cow dung and periodic aeration. Over a period of twenty-eight days, the hydrocarbon-utilizing bacteria (HUB) and hydrocarbon-utilizing fungi (HUF) have been counted and identified. Results from biodegradation of the brass crude-oil over th...
متن کاملEnhanced Bioremediation of Brass Crude-Oil (Hydrocarbon), Using Cow Dung and Implication on Microbial Population
The present study has used soil samples from Nigeria, contaminated with Brass crude-oil, to determine its biodegradation through enhanced biostimulation with cow dung and periodic aeration. Over a period of twenty-eight days, the hydrocarbon-utilizing bacteria (HUB) and hydrocarbon-utilizing fungi (HUF) have been counted and identified. Results from biodegradation of the brass crude-oil over th...
متن کامل