Biodegradation of petroleum hydrocarbons by formation microflora

Abstract

The activity of hydrocarbon-oxidizing microflora isolated from formation water of the West Siberia Sovetskoe and Samotlor oilfields was studied in the destruction of petroleum, petroleum fractions, and pure hydrocarbons. The biodegradation rate of n-alkanes increases by 10-30 times when nutrient substrates, which increase the population of microorganisms by 4-6 orders of magnitude, were additionally introduced. During 15 days of contacting the activated microflora with crude oil sorbed on a porous surface, the oil content decreased from 30 to 4.6%. In biodegradation of oils in a liquid medium, the concentration of C17-C30 n-alkanes decreased by 80% and up to 50% of petroleum aromatic hydrocarbons degraded. The destruction of petroleum and petrochemicals by microorganisms involves the formation of a bioemulsifying complex with active oil-washing properties, which is significant for the development of environmentally safe biotechnologies. Copyright ©1999 by MAHK Hayka/Interperiodica Publishing (Russia).