Accelerated biodegradation of petroleum hydrocarbon waste

Abstract

Conventional landfarming approaches to bioremediation of refinery and other petroleum sludges are not acceptable environmentally and are banned in most North American jurisdictions. While initial bioreactor-based systems for treatment of these sludges required batch-cycle process-times of 1-3 months, an accelerated process has now been developed which can be completed in 10-12 days. In this process, up to 99% of total petroleum hydrocarbons are degraded and the sludges are converted from hazardous to non-hazardous according to the United States EPA's toxicity characteristic leachate procedure criteria. Understanding and exploiting mechanisms to improve hydrocarbon accession to the degrading microorganisms was a key development component of the process. Contrasting physiological mechanisms were observed for different component organisms of the mixed culture with respect to their associations with the hydrocarbon substrate; and the beneficial effects of using surfactants were demonstrated. The mixed culture used in the process exhibited a capacity for high-rate degradation of volatile organic carbons and the potential use of the culture as a liquid biofilter was demonstrated. The culture was also effective as an inoculant for the bioaugmentation of total petroleum hydrocarbon-contaminated soil and as a de-emulsifier of oilfield emulsions and could transform some other environmental contaminants which are not predominant components of crude oil.

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons Degradation Techniques: A Review

“…Recent advances in phytodegradation studies have come to light in the application of rye grass (Lolium multiflorum) and bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon) in degrading alkylated two ring naphthalenes (White, Wolf, Thoma, & Reynolds, 2006). In their contribution on distribution of PAHs in sub-cellular root tissue, Kang, Chen, Gao, and Zhang (2010) and Ward, Singh, and Van Hamme (2003) had revealed that using L. multiflorium, pyrene was most adsorped in the root of the plant than other PAHs. Previous studies from Simonich andHites (1994), Bakker, Vorenhou, Sum, andKollôffel (1999) and Gao and Zhu (2004) are of the opinion that the efficiency of plant uptake and metabolism of PAHs depended on the morphology of the plant system.…”

Microbial Degradation of Aromatic hydrocarbon: Naphthalene through Nocardiopsis alba RD3

“…Use of microorganisms to degrade environmental pollutants which is called bioremediation is one of the important ways to remove environmental contamination. Bioremediation is generally considered a safe and less expensive method for the removal of hazardous contaminants and production of non-toxic by-products (Ward et al, 2003). Bioremediation process involves detoxification and mineralization, where the waste is converted into inorganic compounds such as carbon dioxide, water and methane (Varsha et al, 2011).…”

Biorremediação de solos contaminados com hidrocarbonetos aromáticos policíclicos

“…Os resíduos com alta concentração de carbono orgânico são aplicados periodicamente no solo, visando à degradação de seus constituintes. Quando o monitoramento indicar a redução da concentração dos constituintes do resíduo no solo, deve ser feita nova adição de resíduo (WARD et al, 2003). Se os resíduos tratados apresentarem componentes tóxicos, a operação do landfarming deverá ser licenciada pelas agências de proteção ambiental.…”