A novel bioremediation strategy for petroleum hydrocarbon pollutants using salt tolerant Corynebacterium variabile HRJ4 and biochar

The present work aimed to develop a novel strategy to bioremediate the petroleum hydrocarbon contaminants in the environment.Salt tolerant bacterium was isolated from Dagang oilfield,China and identified as Corynebacterium variabile HRJ4 based on 16 S r RNA gene sequence analysis.The bacterium had a high salt tolerant capability and biochar was developed as carrier for the bacterium.The bacteria with biochar were most effective in degradation of n-alkanes（C16,C18,C19,C26,C28） and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons（NAP,PYR） mixture.The result demonstrated that immobilization of C.variabile HRJ4 with biochar showed higher degradation of total petroleum hydrocarbons（THPs） up to 78.9%after 7-day of incubation as compared to the free leaving bacteria.The approach of this study will be helpful in clean-up of petroleum-contamination in the environments through bioremediation process using eco-friendly and cost effective materials like biochar.

High pyrolysis temperature biochar reduced the transport of petroleum degradation bacteria Corynebacterium variabile HRJ4 in porous media

Biochar has been widely applied for the remediation of petroleum-contaminated soil.However,the effect of biochar on the transport of petroleum degradation bacteria has not been studied.A typical Gram-positive petroleum degradation bacteria-Corynebacterium variabile HRJ4 was used to study the effect of different biochars on bacterial transport and retention.Results indicated that the addition of biochar in sand was effective for reducing the transport of bacteria and poplar sawdust biochar(PSBC)had a stronger hinder effect than corn straw biochar(CSBC).The hindrance was more evident with pyrolysis temperature of biochar raised from 300℃ to 600℃,which was attributed to the increase of specific surface area(309 times).The hindrance effect also enhanced with higher application rate of biochar.Furthermore,the reduction of HRJ4 transport was more obvious in higher(25 mmol/L)concentration of Na Cl solution owing to electrostatic attraction enhancement.The adsorption of biochar to HRJ4 was defined to contribute to the hindrance of HRJ4 transport mainly.Combining the influence of feedstocks and pyrolysis temperature on HRJ4 transport,it suggested that specific surface area had the greatest effect on HRJ4 transport,and pore-filling,electrostatic force also contributed to HRJ4 retained in quartz sand column.At last,phenol transportation experiment indicated that the restriction of biochar on HRJ4 enhanced the phenol removal rate in the column.This study provides a theoretical basis for the interaction of biochar and bacteria,which is vital for the remediation of oil-contaminated soil and groundwater in the field.