Slurry-Phase Experiments as Screening Protocol for Bioremediation of Complex Hydrocarbon Waste

Hettiaratchi, J. Patrick A.; Amatya, Prasanna L.; Jordan, Eric A.; Joshi, R. C.

doi:10.1061/(asce)1090-025x(2001)5:2(88)

Cited by 2 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Details of the slurry-reactor setup used in this study can be found elsewhere. 21 One-hundred grams of prepared FP soil was placed into each of the reactors, and deionized water was added to produce 1 L of 10% slurry. Water losses by evaporation in the reactors because of aeration were regularly replenished with deionized water.…”

Section: Slurry-phase Experimentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interaction Effects of Metals and Salinity on Biodegradation of a Complex Hydrocarbon Waste

Amatya

Hettiaratchi

Joshi

2006

Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association

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The presence of high levels of salts because of produced brine water disposal at flare pits and the presence of metals at sufficient concentrations to impact microbial activity are of concern to bioremediation of flare pit waste in the upstream oil and gas industry. Two slurry-phase biotreatment experiments based on three-level factorial statistical experimental design were conducted with a flare pit waste. The experiments separately studied the primary effect of cadmium [Cd(II)] and interaction effect between Cd(II) and salinity and the primary effect of zinc [Zn(II)] and interaction effect between Zn(II) and salinity on hydrocarbon biodegradation. The results showed 42-52.5% hydrocarbon removal in slurries spiked with Cd and 47-62.5% in the slurries spiked with Zn. The analysis of variance showed that the primary effects of Cd and Cd-salinity interaction were statistically significant on hydrocarbon degradation. The primary effects of Zn and the Zn-salinity interaction were statistically insignificant, whereas the quadratic effect of Zn was highly significant on hydrocarbon degradation. The study on effects of metallic chloro-complexes showed that the total aqueous concentration of Cd or Zn does not give a reliable indication of overall toxicity to the microbial activity in the presence of high salinity levels.

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Section: Slurry-phase Experimentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interaction Effects of Metals and Salinity on Biodegradation of a Complex Hydrocarbon Waste

Amatya

Hettiaratchi

Joshi

2006

Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association

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“…The primary focus of this paper is on solid-phase biotreatment to evaluate the effects of N, P, salinity, and temperature on the biodegradation of FP waste hydrocarbons. The paper also discusses the slurry reactor experiments from earlier work (13) , which were performed to study the effectiveness of slurry-phase tests to assess the extent of the biodegradability of hydrocarbons in FP waste employing indigenous microorganisms. This paper also illustrates the feasibility of using a statistical experimental design approach to identify the relative significance of primary parameters and their coupled effects on the bioremediation of FP waste.…”

Section: Solid Phase Biotreatmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The FP waste consisted mostly of soil, with varying levels of hydrocarbons, moisture, salt, and low levels of metals. The composition and other characteristics of the FP waste samples are presented elsewhere (13) .…”

Section: Flare Pit (Fp) Wastementioning

confidence: 99%

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Biotreatment of Flare Pit Waste

Amatya

Hettiaratchi

Joshi

2002

Journal of Canadian Petroleum Technology

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The upstream oil and gas industry has used flare pits (FPs) for decades to store and/or burn produced fluids generated at well sites, compressor stations, and batteries. Since produced fluids contain liquid hydrocarbons, process chemicals, crude bitumen, or salt water, FPs usually contain high levels of hydrocarbons, metals, and salts. At present, bioremediation by land application is the most common method practiced by the oil and gas industry to treat FP waste. High rate slurry-phase and solid-phase biotreatment methods are viable alternatives to the low cost, yet inefficient, land application option. The use of slurry-phase and solid-phase biotreatment in the overall strategy for FP waste remediation is reported in this paper. A laboratory solid-phase bioremediation study was conducted over a period of 270 days to investigate the effects of nitrogen, phosphorus, salinity levels, and incubation temperature on the biodegradation of hydrocarbons in FP pit waste employing a statistical partial factorial experimental design. A soil contaminated with flare pit hydrocarbons was treated with nitrogen (500, 1,250, or 2,000 mg/kg of soil), phosphorus (100, 250, or 400 mg/kg of soil), and salt (yielding electrical conductivities of 0, 20, or 40 dS/m), and incubated at three temperatures (20 °, 30 °, and 40 °C). The highest oil and grease (O&G) reduction of 34% was observed in the soils incubated at 30 °C. Soil temperature had more influence on bioremediation rates than did N or P. The high P levels, up to 400 mg P/kg soil, had no detrimental effect on hydrocarbon biodegradation. High salinity levels reduced the rate of hydrocarbon biodegradation. The slurry-phase biotreatment of flare pit waste using 2 L slurry reactors showed an initial rapid decrease in hydrocarbon concentrations. However, biodegradation decreased with time and eventually ceased, leaving recalcitrant compounds. The nutrient concentrations (above 350 mg N/L, as ammonium nitrogen) did not exhibit statistically significant effects on hydrocarbon degradation. The primary effect of waste composition was highly significant, with higher soil clay content resulting in lower biodegradation. Introduction The produced fluids generated at oil and gas well sites, compressor stations, and batteries contain a variety of liquid hydrocarbons, process chemicals, crude bitumen, and salt water. Until recently, the industry practice was to store and intermittently burn these produced fluids in earthen pits called "flare pits." According to recent estimates, Alberta is home to about 30,000 flare pit (FP) sites(1). In 1996, the provincial government of Alberta banned the disposal of produced fluids in FPs, and requested the oil and gas industry to remediate former FP sites that are posing significant risks to human health and the surrounding environment. Because of the highly complex and variable nature of the waste, remediation of FP waste presents a serious challenge. At present, the most common technique used for remediation of FP sites is bioremediation by land application. Land application is relatively low-tech and less expensive (compared with competing techniques such as incineration). Furthermore, land application is popular in locations such as rural Alberta, because of the nature of the spatial distribution of FP sites.

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Slurry-Phase Experiments as Screening Protocol for Bioremediation of Complex Hydrocarbon Waste

Cited by 2 publications

References 7 publications

Interaction Effects of Metals and Salinity on Biodegradation of a Complex Hydrocarbon Waste

Interaction Effects of Metals and Salinity on Biodegradation of a Complex Hydrocarbon Waste

Biotreatment of Flare Pit Waste

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