Biodegradation of petroleum sludge and petroleum polluted soil by a bacterial consortium: a laboratory study

Abstract

This article presents a study of the efficiency and degradation pattern of samples of petroleum sludge and polluted sandy soil from an oil refinery. A bacterial consortium, consisting of strains from the genera Pseudomonas, Achromobacter, Bacillus and Micromonospora, was isolated from a petroleum sludge sample and characterized. The addition of nitrogen and phosphorus nutrients and a chemical surfactant to both the samples and bioaugmentation to the soil sample were applied under laboratory conditions. The extent of biodegradation was monitored by the gravimetric method and analysis of the residual oil by gas chromatography. Over a 12-week experiment, the achieved degree of TPH (total petroleum hydrocarbon) degradation amounted to 82-88% in the petroleum sludge and 86-91% in the polluted soil. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was utilized to determine the biodegradability and degradation rates of n-alkanes, isoprenoids, steranes, diasteranes and terpanes. Complete degradation of the n-alkanes and isoprenoids fractions occurred in both the samples. In addition, the intensities of the peaks corresponding to tricyclic terpenes and homohopanes were decreased, while significant changes were also observed in the distribution of diasteranes and steranes.

Input of organic matter enhances degradation of weathered diesel fuel in sub-tropical sediments

“…Similar orders in the Gammaproteobacteria class were reported by Kostka et al (2011) in beach sediments contaminated with oil following the 2010 DWH oil spill. In the present study the most dominant hydrocarbon degraders were most similar to Achromobacter sp., Microbulbifer sp., Ruegeria sp., and Pseudomonas sp., which was in agreement with other hydrocarbon contaminated marine water and sludge sediment studies (Cappello et al, 2007;Gojgic-Cvijovic et al, 2012;Colla et al, 2014;Brito et al, 2006). Species of Pseudomonas have been well-documented to be capable of degrading diesel fuel (Vázquez et al, 2009;Shukor et al, 2009).…”

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

“…Zbog efikasnosti (ali i zbog javnog mnjenja), najpraktičnije je upotrebiti mikroorganizme izolovane iz zemljišta koje treba da bude dekontaminirano [32]. Pri izolaciji i selekciji mikrobnih kultura pored degradacionih sposobnosti vodi se računa i o sposobnosti za preživljavanje i otpornosti na eventualno prisutne druge zagađujuće supstance [53,55]. Najčešće se priprema mešana kultura, umnožava se i kao aktivna biomasa aplikuje na kontaminiranu lokaciju.…”

Anaerolineaceae and Methanosaeta turned to be the dominant microorganisms in alkanes-dependent methanogenic culture after long-term of incubation

“…An enrichment of microbial community from high-temperature oil field production water contained Firmicutes , Thermodesulfobiaceae , Thermotogaceae , Nitrospiraceae , Dictyoglomaceae , Candidate division OP8 (Mbadinga et al 2012). A bacterial consortium isolated from petroleum sludge consisting of Pseudomonas , Achromobacter , Bacillus and Micromonospora was also able to degrade n -alkanes (Gojgic-Cvijovic et al 2012). Therefore, other microbes that have the potential of directly degradation of alkanes should not be completely excluded, which is significant for bioremediation in different hydrocarbon contaminated system.…”