Abstract
A biosurfactant producing strain, Bacillus subtilis 20B, was isolated from fermented food in India. The strain also showed inhibition of various fungi in in-vitro experiments on Potato Dextrose Agar medium. It was capable of growth at temperature 55 °C and salts up to 7%. It utilized different sugars, alcohols, hydrocarbons and oil as a carbon source, with preference for sugars. In glucose based minimal medium it produced biosurfactant which reduced surface tension to 29.5 mN/m, interfacial tension to 4.5 mN/m and gave stable emulsion with crude oil and n-hexadecane. The biosurfactant activity was stable at high temperature, a wide range of pH and salt concentrations for five days. Oil displacement experiments using biosurfactant containing broth in sand pack columns with crude oil showed 30.22% recovery. The possible application of organism as biocontrol agent and use of biosurfactant in microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR) is discussed.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 4603-4608 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Bioresource Technology |
Volume | 99 |
Issue number | 11 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Jul 2008 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Bacillus subtilis
- Biosurfactant
- Interfacial tension
- MEOR, Biocontrol agent
- Surface tension
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Bioengineering
- Environmental Engineering
- Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
- Waste Management and Disposal