The conversion or processing of shale, coal, or petroleum involves elevated temperatures and altered pressures, and under these conditions polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons are likely to form. Certain compounds of this type exhibit carcinogenic activity for a variety of organ sites in experimental animals and epidemiological evidence strongly implicates their role as carcinogens in man. It is t...

There have occurred a great number of experimental studies which present evidences of the benefits of magnetic treatment on many occasions. Some eye-catching proto-industrial examples ever reported include: the enhancement of oil recovery[l] and prevention of wax deposition[2-41 m petroleum production, transportation and refining; the improvement of fluidity of crude oils[571, and the d e d c a...

Aviation fuel (i.e., jet fuel) requires a mixture of C9 -C16 hydrocarbons having both a high energy density and a low freezing point. While jet fuel is currently produced from petroleum, increasing concern with the release of CO2 into the atmosphere from the combustion of petroleum-based fuels has led to policy changes mandating the inclusion of biomass-based fuels into the fuel pool. Here we r...

AIM To select carbazole-degrading bacteria able to survive and metabolize carbazole in biphasic organic-water media and to study the factors affecting carbazole degradation in such conditions. METHODS AND RESULTS In this research a new carbazole-degrading strain was isolated from hot springs in Mexico. This bacterium was preliminary identified as Burkholderia sp. IMP5GC and was able to grow u...

Experiments were designed to evaluate biodegradation of plantand petroleum-based fuels and blends exposed to seawater under anaerobic conditions. The experimental set-up included natural aerobic seawater, fuel and unprotected carbon steel coupons, simulating a potential fuel storage situation. Corrosion was due to microbiologically produced sulfides reacting with carbon steel. There were few di...

Mummification was practised in ancient Egypt for more than 3000 years, emerging from initial observations of buried bodies preserved by natural desiccation. The use of organic balms (and other funerary practices) was a later introduction necessitated by more humid burial environments, especially tombs. The dark colour of many mummies led to the assumption that petroleum bitumen (or natural asph...

To look into complex mixtures of petroleum heavy ends at the molecular level, ultra high-resolution mass spectrometry, i.e. resolving power > 50,000, is needed to resolve overlapping components for accurate determination of molecular composition of individual components. Recent progress in Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS) incorporated with soft ionization ...

An oil spill is the accidental or intentional discharge of petroleum products into the environment due to human activities. Although oil spills are actually just a little percent of the total world oil pollution problem, they represent the most visible form of it. The impact on the ecosystems can be severe as well as the impact on economic activities. Oil spill cleanup is a very difficult and e...