The short chain, gaseous alkanes ethane, propane, n- and iso-butane are released in significant amounts into the atmosphere, where they contribute to tropospheric chemistry and ozone formation. Biodegradation of gaseous alkanes by aerobic microorganisms, mostly bacteria and fungi isolated from terrestrial environments, has been known for several decades. The first indications for short chain al...

The psychorotrophic Rhodococcus sp. strain Q15 was examined for its ability to degrade individual n-alkanes and diesel fuel at low temperatures, and its alkane catabolic pathway was investigated by biochemical and genetic techniques. At 0 and 5 degrees C, Q15 mineralized the short-chain alkanes dodecane and hexadecane to a greater extent than that observed for the long-chain alkanes octacosane ...

Self-adapting fixed endpoint configurational-bias Monte Carlo simulations in the Gibbs ensemble were carried out to determine the vapour–liquid coexistence curves of cyclic alkanes from c-pentane to c-octadecane. In general, the critical temperatures and densities of the cyclic alkanes are substantially higher than those of their linear counterparts. Furthermore, the simulation data point to a ...

The modified square well Potential is combined with perturbed-hard-trimer-chain (PHTC) EOS to predict the solubility parameter of several fluids including alkanes, refrigerants and molten polymers. The performance of the proposed model has been evaluated by predicting the solubility parameter of 12 hydrocarbons,3 refrigerants, and 12 polymers. From the 263 data points for hydrocarbons and refri...

Rhodococcus sp. strain BCP1 was initially isolated for its ability to grow on gaseous n-alkanes, which act as inducers for the co-metabolic degradation of low-chlorinated compounds. Here, both molecular and metabolic features of BCP1 cells grown on gaseous and short-chain n-alkanes (up to n-heptane) were examined in detail. We show that propane metabolism generated terminal and sub-terminal oxi...

We tested different alga-bacterium-archaeon consortia to investigate the production of oil-like mixtures, expecting that n-alkane-rich biofuels might be synthesized after pyrolysis. Thermosipho globiformans and Methanocaldococcus jannaschii were cocultured at 68°C with microalgae for 9 days under two anaerobic conditions, followed by pyrolysis at 300°C for 4 days. Arthrospira platensis (Cyanoba...

Alkanes are important building blocks of organics, polymers and biomolecules. The conditions that lead to ordering of alkanes at interfaces, and whether interfacial ordering of the molecules leads to heterogeneous crystal nucleation of alkanes or surface freezing, have not yet been elucidated. Here we use molecular simulations with the united-atom OPLS and PYS alkane models and the mW water mod...

Weathering processes change properties and composition of spilled oil, representing the main reason of failure of bioaugmentation strategies. Our purpose was to investigate the metabolic adaptation of hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria at harsh conditions to be considered to overcome the limitations of bioaugmentation strategies at harsh conditions. Polluted soils, exposed for prolonged periods to ...

Using gas chromatography-triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS), the soluble organic matter was analyzed for first time in twenty-two sediment samples from eastern slopes of Gongga Mountain, China, at high altitudes between 4,600 and 6,700 m. The C 11 -C 33 n -alkanes 9 -alkan-2-ones were identified these samples. Both compounds dominated by odd carbon numbers long-chain molecule...