TY - JOUR
T1 - Bioremediation of heavy crude oil contamination
AU - Al-Sayegh, Abdullah
AU - Al-Wahaibi, Yahya
AU - Joshi, Sanket
AU - Al-Bahry, Saif
AU - Elshafie, Abdulkadir
AU - Al-Bemani, Ali
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© Al-Sayegh et al.
PY - 2016
Y1 - 2016
N2 - Crude oil contamination is one of the major environmental concerns and it has drawn interest from researchers and industries. Heavy oils contain 24-64% saturates and aromatics,14-39% resins and 11-45% asphaltene. Resins and asphaltenes mainly consist of naphthenic aromatic hydrocarbons with alicyclic chains which are the hardest to degrade. Crude oil biodegradation process,with its minimal energy need and environmentally friendly approach,presents an opportunity for bioremediation and as well for enhanced oil recovery to utilize heavy oil resources in an efficient manner. Biodegradation entails crude oil utilization as a carbon source for microorganisms that in turn change the physical properties of heavy crude oil by oxidizing aromatic rings,chelating metals and severing internal bonds/chains between molecules. Biodegradation does not necessarily lower quality of crude oil as there are cases where quality was improved. This paper provides information on heavy crude oil chemistry,bioremediation concept,biodegradation enzymes,cases of Microbial Enhanced heavy crude Oil Recovery (MEOR) and screening criteria towards a better understanding of the biodegradation application. Through the utilization of single microorganisms and consortia,researchers were able to biodegrade single pure hydrocarbon components,transform heavy crude oil fractions to lighter fractions,remove heavy metals and reduce viscosity of crude oil.
AB - Crude oil contamination is one of the major environmental concerns and it has drawn interest from researchers and industries. Heavy oils contain 24-64% saturates and aromatics,14-39% resins and 11-45% asphaltene. Resins and asphaltenes mainly consist of naphthenic aromatic hydrocarbons with alicyclic chains which are the hardest to degrade. Crude oil biodegradation process,with its minimal energy need and environmentally friendly approach,presents an opportunity for bioremediation and as well for enhanced oil recovery to utilize heavy oil resources in an efficient manner. Biodegradation entails crude oil utilization as a carbon source for microorganisms that in turn change the physical properties of heavy crude oil by oxidizing aromatic rings,chelating metals and severing internal bonds/chains between molecules. Biodegradation does not necessarily lower quality of crude oil as there are cases where quality was improved. This paper provides information on heavy crude oil chemistry,bioremediation concept,biodegradation enzymes,cases of Microbial Enhanced heavy crude Oil Recovery (MEOR) and screening criteria towards a better understanding of the biodegradation application. Through the utilization of single microorganisms and consortia,researchers were able to biodegrade single pure hydrocarbon components,transform heavy crude oil fractions to lighter fractions,remove heavy metals and reduce viscosity of crude oil.
KW - Biodegradation
KW - Biosurfactant
KW - Enhanced oil recovery
KW - Enzymes
KW - Heavy oil
KW - Nutrients
KW - Screening criteria
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U2 - 10.2174/1874070701610010301
DO - 10.2174/1874070701610010301
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84996538454
SN - 1874-0707
VL - 10
SP - 301
EP - 311
JO - Open Biotechnology Journal
JF - Open Biotechnology Journal
ER -