Enhancement of Spilled Oil Biodegradation by Nutrients of Natural Origin

Abstract

Ten years ago, Elf Aquitaine began developing the technologies for the acceleration of hydrocarbon biodegradation. The continuation of this work has involved the study of new additives to complement the oleophilic nutrient, INIPOL EAP 22. In particular, it has been shown in both laboratory and in situ tests that hydrocarbon degradation can be accelerated by animal meals, which are natural products. Preliminary laboratory studies carried out under batch conditions, have shown that the use of these products has resulted in considerable growth of the bacteria, coupled with a notable increase in the biological degradation kinetics of the hydrocarbons. These results are comparable with the performance of the nutrient INIPOL EAP 22. In situ experiments undertaken on soils polluted by hydrocarbons have shown that by using animal meals, 50 percent biodegradation was obtained after six weeks and this increased to 80 percent when mechanical aeration was also employed. Under nutrient-free control conditions, 25 percent biodegradation was obtained with no aeration and 35 percent with mechanical aeration. In trials using coastal sandy sediments, the use of these nutrients has resulted in an increase of both the number of hydrocarbon specific bacteria and the hydrocarbon degradation. It can be concluded from these pilot experiments that in the development of bioremediation as an operational tool in the response to accidental oil spills, these nutrients of natural origin represent an interesting advance.

Bioremediation of Oil on Shoreline Environments: Development of Techniques and Guidelines

“…In addition, there is now a renewed interest in the advantages of having an organic carbon source within bioremediation agents to promote rapid bacterial growth [36]. This has lead to the recent development and testing of organic fertilizers comprised of fish meal, animal meal, and/or fish bone meal [37,38]. Theoretically, optimal nutrient concentrations can be maintained within oiled sediments for prolonged periods by the internal nutrient regeneration processes coupled with the degradation of these products.…”

Field evaluations of marine oil spill bioremediation.

“…Organic fertilizers derived from natural products such as fish and meat meals have recently been evaluated as bioremediation agents for use in the marine environment. Basseres et al (12) evaluated the efficacy of bioremediation agents composed of 60% animal proteins with a N/P ratio (molar ratio, 22:1) similar to that demanded by the bacteria (molar ratio, 16:1) to degrade a weathered Arabian Light crude oil in sandy beach sediments. These biodegradation studies were conducted in 600-liter outdoor tanks which were supplied with fresh seawater once a day to simulate tide conditions.…”

Remediation of Mild Crude Oil Polluted Fresh Water Wet Land with Organic and Inorganic Fertilizer

“…Crude oil degradation is more feasible under aerobic condition, therefore the low level of oxygen in wetlands has the detrimental effects and makes clean up or remediation of the wetlands complex [18]. The addition of nutrients to crude oil polluted wetland has been shown to increase the degradation of oil [19,20,21,22].…”