Bioremediation of soil polluted with crude oil and its derivatives: Microorganisms, degradation pathways, technologies

The contamination of soil and water with petroleum and its products occurs due to accidental spills during exploitation, transport, processing, storing and use. In order to control the environmental risks caused by petroleum products a variety of techniques based on physical, chemical and biological methods have been used. Biological methods are considered to have a comparative advantage as cost effective and environmentally friendly technologies. Bioremediation, defined as the use of biological systems to destroy and reduce the concentrations of hazardous waste from contaminated sites, is an evolving technology for the removal and degradation of petroleum hydrocarbons as well as industrial solvents, phenols and pesticides. Microorganisms are the main bioremediation agents due to their diverse metabolic capacities. In order to enhance the rate of pollutant degradation the technology optimizes the conditions for the growth of microorganisms present in soil by aeration, nutrient addition and, if necessary, by adding separately prepared microorganisms cultures. The other factors that influence the efficiency of process are temperature, humidity, presence of surfactants, soil pH, mineral composition, content of organic substance of soil as well as type and concentration of contaminant. This paper presents a review of our ex situ bioremediation procedures successfully implemented on the industrial level. This technology was used for treatment of soils contaminated by crude oil and its derivatives originated from refinery as well as soils polluted with oil fuel and transformer oil.

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BIOREMEDIATION OF A CAMBIC CHERNOZEM POLLUTED WITH PETROLEUM HYDROCARBONS

Bulletin of University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca Agriculture ◽

10.15835/buasvmcn-agr:1124 ◽

1970 ◽

Vol 65 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Mariana Marinescu ◽

M. Dumitru ◽

Anca Lacatusu

Keyword(s):

Crude Oil ◽

Petroleum Hydrocarbons ◽

Organic Pollutant ◽

Complex Mixture ◽

Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons ◽

Polluted Soils ◽

Chemical Methods ◽

Sources Of Pollution ◽

Biological Methods ◽

Physical And Chemical

The exploitation of petroleum has generated various sources of pollution in soil. In order to resolve this problem, several techniques have been developed. Physical and chemical methods are the most widely methods used for land treatment of oil polluted soils. These methods are expensive, ineffective and could cause a lot of damages on soil. The biological methods are not expensive and do not cause changes in the soil physical and chemical characteristics. Bioremediation is based on the capacity of microorganisms to degrade organic pollutant compounds, such as hydrocarbons. This study presents the preliminary results of a bioremediation alternative for soils polluted with crude oil (petroleum hydrocarbons). The bioremediation was achieved by increasing the microbial population by adding the fibers provided from celluloid wastes and bacteria inoculum. The paper presents the effect of a bioremediation treatment applied to a cambic chernozem polluted with 50000 mg kg-1 (5% crude oil) and 100000 mg kg-1 (10% crude oil) of a complex mixture of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH).

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The analysis of petroleum hydrocarbons in soils deriving from areas of various development

E3S Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/e3sconf/201910000002 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 100 ◽

pp. 00002

Author(s):

Ewa Badowska ◽

Dawid Bandzierz

Keyword(s):

Gas Chromatography ◽

Crude Oil ◽

Petroleum Hydrocarbons ◽

Specific Area ◽

Petroleum Products ◽

Soil Samples ◽

Soil Contaminants ◽

Industrial Use ◽

Petroleum Pollutants ◽

Hydrocarbons In Soils

The petroleum pollutants are one of the basic soil contaminants. This is due to the widespread use of petroleum products. Crude oil and its derivatives appear in the environment mainly during their storage and transport. In the research, 16 soil samples from different places were collected and analysed. The selected locations were divided into agricultural, service, recreational, residential and industrial use. The petroleum hydrocarbons were determined, in the range from C10 to C40, according to the standard PN-EN ISO 16703 [1] by means of gas chromatography. The determined results were mostly above the limited values [2] resulting from matching the soil to the group to which the specific area belongs.

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Bioremediation of Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons (TPH) by Bioaugmentation and Biostimulation in Water with Floating Oil Spill Containment Booms as Bioreactor Basin

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18052226 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (5) ◽

pp. 2226

Author(s):

Khalid Sayed ◽

Lavania Baloo ◽

Naresh Kumar Sharma

Keyword(s):

Crude Oil ◽

Oil Spill ◽

Petroleum Hydrocarbons ◽

Biological Treatment ◽

Oil Spills ◽

Oil Pollution ◽

Treatment Method ◽

Petroleum Products ◽

Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons ◽

Petroleum Refinery Effluent

A crude oil spill is a common issue during offshore oil drilling, transport and transfer to onshore. Second, the production of petroleum refinery effluent is known to cause pollution due to its toxic effluent discharge. Sea habitats and onshore soil biota are affected by total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) as a pollutant in their natural environment. Crude oil pollution in seawater, estuaries and beaches requires an efficient process of cleaning. To remove crude oil pollutants from seawater, various physicochemical and biological treatment methods have been applied worldwide. A biological treatment method using bacteria, fungi and algae has recently gained a lot of attention due to its efficiency and lower cost. This review introduces various studies related to the bioremediation of crude oil, TPH and related petroleum products by bioaugmentation and biostimulation or both together. Bioremediation studies mentioned in this paper can be used for treatment such as emulsified residual spilled oil in seawater with floating oil spill containment booms as an enclosed basin such as a bioreactor, for petroleum hydrocarbons as a pollutant that will help environmental researchers solve these problems and completely clean-up oil spills in seawater.

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DISOLVED OXYGEN PERFORMANCE IN DEGRADATION OF TOTAL PETROLEUM HYDROCARBONS BY EX SITE ACTIVATED SLUDGE

Konversi ◽

10.20527/k.v9i2.9308 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Abubakar Tuhuloula

Keyword(s):

Dissolved Oxygen ◽

Activated Sludge ◽

Petroleum Hydrocarbons ◽

Gravimetric Method ◽

Degradation Process ◽

Ex Situ ◽

Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons ◽

Contaminated Site ◽

Nutrient Injection ◽

Biological Methods

Contamination of soil by the activities of exploration, production and disposal of oil waste into the environment causes serious damage to the environmental ecosystem, the target of processing by the activated sludge as a model for remediation of petroleum contaminated site. Optimization of oxygen supply becomes special attention in aerobic bioprocess for optimizing the growth of microorganisms to degrade total petroleum hydrocarbons. Thus, the study was focused on determining the performance of dissolved oxygen in degradation of total petroleum hydrocarbons by ex situ activated sludge. The research used biological methods (bioremediation), with the ratio of contaminated soil to water was 20:80%(w/v) and a soil size 40/50 mesh. The degradation process was carried out with 15% and 20% (v/v) activated sludge put into the bioreactor slurry with a capacity of 4 liters and stirring was 90 rpm at a temperature of 30oC as well as aeration and nutrient injection into the bioreactor. TPH analysis was measured by the gravimetric method. The results obtained showed that the performance of dissolved oxygen increased well in the bioreactor slurry at 15% (v/v) and 20% (v/v) activated sludge concentrations was 3.31–8.57 mg/L and 3.5–8.21 mg/L respectively, which had an impact on the level of TPH degradation, namely from 18,000 µg/g to 2870 µg/g and 18,000 µg/g to 1970 µg/g during the 49 days remediation period. In general, activated sludge shows good performance throughout the remediation period.

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Energetic properties of peat saturated with petroleum products

Safety and Reliability of Power Industry ◽

10.24223/1999-5555-2020-13-2-105-109 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 13 (2) ◽

pp. 105-109

Author(s):

E. S. Dremicheva

Keyword(s):

Crude Oil ◽

Diesel Fuel ◽

Energy Use ◽

Experimental Studies ◽

Calorific Value ◽

Petroleum Products ◽

Ash Content ◽

Motor Oil ◽

Initial Sample

This paper presents a method of sorption using peat for elimination of emergency spills of crude oil and petroleum products and the possibility of energy use of oil-saturated peat. The results of assessment of the sorbent capacity of peat are presented, with waste motor oil and diesel fuel chosen as petroleum products. Natural peat has been found to possess sorption properties in relation to petroleum products. The sorbent capacity of peat can be observed from the first minutes of contact with motor oil and diesel fuel, and significantly depends on their viscosity. For the evaluation of thermal properties of peat saturated with petroleum products, experimental studies have been conducted on determination of moisture and ash content of as-fired fuel. It is shown that adsorbed oil increases the moisture and ash content of peat in comparison with the initial sample. Therefore, when intended for energy use, peat saturated with petroleum products is to be subjected to additional drying. Simulation of net calorific value has been performed based on the calorific values of peat and petroleum products with different ratios of petroleum product content in peat and for a saturated peat sample. The obtained results are compared with those of experiments conducted in a calorimetric bomb and recalculated for net calorific value. A satisfactory discrepancy is obtained, which amounts to about 12%. Options have been considered providing for combustion of saturated peat as fuel (burnt per se and combined with a solid fuel) and processing it to produce liquid, gaseous and solid fuels. Peat can be used to solve environmental problems of elimination of emergency spills of crude oil and petroleum products and as an additional resource in solving the problem of finding affordable energy.

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Monitoring of Petroleum-Related Environmental Contamination Using Fluorescence Fingerprinting

Water Practice & Technology ◽

10.2166/wpt.2006.029 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 1 (2) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

P. Literathy ◽

M. Quinn

Keyword(s):

Environmental Contamination ◽

Statistical Evaluation ◽

Oil Pollution ◽

Emission Spectra ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Petroleum Products ◽

Danube River ◽

Aromatic Components ◽

Analytical Approaches

Petroleum and its refined products are considered the most complex contaminants frequently impacting the environment in significant quantities. They have heterogeneous chemical composition and alterations occur during environmental weathering. No single analytical method exists to characterize the petroleum-related environmental contamination. For monitoring, the analytical approaches include gravimetric, spectrometric and chromatographic methods having significant differences in their selectivity, sensitivity and cost-effectiveness. Recording fluorescence fingerprints of the cyclohexane extracts of the water, suspended solids, sediment or soil samples and applying appropriate statistical evaluation (e.g. by correlating the concatenated emission spectra of the fingerprints of the samples with arbitrary standards (e.g. petroleum products)), provides a powerful, cost-effective analytical tool for characterization of the type of oil pollution and detecting the most harmful aromatic components of the petroleum contaminated matrix. For monitoring purposes, the level of the contamination can be expressed as the equivalent concentration of an appropriate characteristic standard, based on the fluorescence intensities at the relevant characteristic wavelengths. These procedures are demonstrated in the monitoring of petroleum-related pollution in the water and suspended sediment in the Danube river basin

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