Performance Evaluation of the Halophilic Crude Oildegrading Bacterial Consortium XH-1 for Oilfield Wastewater Treatment

A total of 14 halophilic hydrocarbon-degrading strains were isolated from crude oil-contaminated sites,using petroleum as the sole carbon and energy source.Among these,four highly efficient strains were selected to create the mixed bacterial agent XH-1.These four strains were identified through 16S rRNA gene-based sequencing as belonging to Acinetobacter,Bacillus paramycoides,Rhodococcus sp.,and Enterobacter sp.,respectively.The optimal cultivation time for the mixed consortium XH-1 was found to be 48 h,and a nitrogen-phosphorus molar ratio of 10:1 was determined to be beneficial for crude oil degradation.XH-1 showed notable crude oil degradation even at a salinity of up to 30 g/L,with little inhibition observed at sulfide concentrations as high as 150 mg/L and initial oil concentrations of 500 mg/L.Gas chromatography analysis revealed that XH-1 was able to efficiently degrade C9–C29 n-alkanes.Moreover,a bio-contact oxidation reactor enhanced by XH-1 showed promising results in treating oilfield wastewater.These findings suggest that XH-1 can be applied for the treatment of oilfield wastewater.

Degradation of Microbes for the Crude Oil Contaminants

Production and storage-transportation of crude oil can not only give rise to soil pollution but also destroy ecological environment. Degradation of microbes for oily soil was studied with the instnunent, Geofina Hydrocarbon Meter (GHM), by experimental analysis qualitatively and quantitatively in the paper. Analytical result showed that the crude oil could be considerably degraded by eating-oil microbes in oily soil and the number of eating-oil microbes increased while the working hours of oil-well risi...

Absorption and Photocataly tic Degradation of Machine Oil by Exfoliated Graphite-Supported Nanometer TiO2 Material

By loading nanometer anatase onto exfoliated graphite with the sol-gel method, exfoliated graphite-TiO2 composite （EG-TiO2） can be prepared, which can adsorb oil and can also degrade oil. In a technologic condition for preparing EG-TiO2, the impregnated number of times is the most important factor to influence oil-adsorbing capability, that is, when the impregnated number of times increases, the amount of saturation-adsorbed oil decreases. The study of EG-TiO2 photocatalytic degradation of machine oil based on the weight-loss method and infrared spectrum method indicates that EG-TiO2 has obvious effect of photocatalytic degradation for machine oil. Its performance is superior to pure nanometer TiO2 powder because nanometer TiO2 in EG-TiO2 has three-dimension laminar structure and comparatively high adsorption capability.

Fenton Pre-Oxidation Followed by Microbial Degradation for Removing Crude Oil from Contaminated Soil

Through the Fenton pre-oxidation followed by microbial degradation,this study gave full play to its advantages while avoiding its shortcomings for the remediation of crude oil contaminated soil.The Fenton reagent coupled with different volumes of H2O2 was applied to the oil contaminated soil and then the microbial agents were introduced to biodegrade the residual oil for 15 days.The correlation between the characteristics of residual oil in soil,the changes in soil physical-chemical property after the Fenton pre-oxidation,and the biodegradation were analyzed in this paper.The results show that the above factors are strongly correlated with the subsequent biodegradation rate,and the order of correlation is as follows:the ratio of TOC to NH4+-N(R^2=0.9513)>the ratio of light oil components to the heavy oil components(R^2=0.9095)>the proportion of hydrocarbons with carbon chain number of less than C23(R^2=0.8259)>the crude oil content(R^2=0.7603)>the soil pH(R^2=0.7492)>the number of microorganisms(R^2=0.6506).During the biodegradation and pre-oxidation reactions of heavy oil components,an appropriate C:N ratio turns out to be the most critical factor in this study.

Toluene degradation by a water/silicone oil mixture for the design of two phase partitioning bioreactors

Toluene degradation performances were studied in a 10 L Two-Phase Partitioning Bioreactor(TPPB).The liquid phase consisted of a mixture of water and PDMS 50(Poly Di Methyl Siloxane,i.e.silicone oil,viscosity of 46 m Pa·s) in the volume ratio of 75%/25%.Two series of experiments were carried out:in the first,the reactor was sequentially supplied with toluene whereas in the second,toluene was continuously supplied.Activated sludge from the wastewater treatment plant of Beaurade(Rennes,France) was used at an initial concentration of 0.5 dry mass g·(mixture L)^(-1).The elimination capacity(EC) was investigated as well as the change in biomass concentration over time.Toluene biodegradation was very ef ficient(removal ef ficiency,RE=100%) for toluene flows ranging from 0.2 to 1.2 ml·h^(-1),corresponding to elimination capacities of up to 104 g·m^(-3)·h^(-1).For a toluene flow of 1.2 ml·h^(-1),the biomass concentration measured at the end of the experiment was 4.7 dry mass g·(mixture L)^(-1).The oxygen concentration in the liquid phase was clearly not a limiting factor in these operating conditions.Based on these results,an extrapolation leading to the design of a large-scale pilot TPPB can now be considered to study toluene degradation performances in industrial conditions.

Novel Method for Evaluating the Aging of Aviation Turbine Engine Oils via High-Temperature Bearing Deposit Tests

Aviation turbine engine oils require excellent thermal-oxidative stability because of their high-temperature environments.High-temperature bearing deposit testing is a mandatory method for measuring the thermal-oxidative performance of aviation lubricant oils,and the relevant apparatus was improved in the present study.Two different commercial aviation turbine engine oils were tested,one with standard performance(known as the SL oil)and the other with high thermal stability,and their thermal-oxidative stability characteristics were evaluated.After 100 h of high-temperature bearing testing,the SL oil was analyzed by using various analytical techniques to investigate its thermal-oxidative process in the bearing test,with its thermal-oxidative degradation mechanism also being discussed.The results indicate that the developed high-temperature bearing apparatus easily meets the test requirements of method 3410.1 in standard FED-STD-791D.The viscosity and total acid number(TAN)of the SL oil increased with the bearing test time,and various deposits were produced in the bearing test,with the micro-particles of the carbon deposits being sphere-like,rod-like,and sheet-like in appearance.The antioxidant additives in the oil were consumed very rapidly in the first 30 h of the bearing test,with N-phenyl-1-naphthylamine being consumed faster than dioctyldiphenylamine.Overall,the oil thermal-oxidative process involves very complex physical and chemical mechanisms.

Antimicrobial Degradation Performance of Novel Polyacrylamide Derivatives by Microbial Consortia for Enhanced Oil Recovery

The pursuit of high oil recovery rate has been a persistent objective for oil industry. Pseudomonas sp. LP-7 and Bacillus sp. PAH-2 were isolated from oil-contaminated surface soil samples of an oilfield. The antimicrobial degradation rates(ADRs) of polymers achieved by LP-7 and PAH-2 were evaluated at a temperature of 35 °C in the mineral salt media during the shaken flask trial. The ADRs of copolymer synthesized by using a surfactant with a concentration of 5% could reach 8.4% for PAH-2 and 15.3% for LP-7. The ADRs of copolymer could reach 10.4% for PAH-2 and 21.3% for LP-7,when the polymer concentration was 2 g/L. All results confirmed that the ADRs of copolymers increased with an increasing content of HDDE(capsaicin derivative monomer) in the polymer. The copolymers also manifested excellent antimicrobial degradation performance in the presence of Cu^(2+), Zn^(2+), and Pb^(2+) ions, respectively, which had great potential for applications in enhanced oil recovery.

Assessment of Contamination Degree of Oil Residues on a Former Agricultural Site

In this study,our goal is to identify the land surface that has been polluted/degraded by petroleum products or other identified causes through laboratory analysis,to assess the depth of current contamination and to identify the specific causes of contamination.The level of contamination will be assessed by analyzing a total of 90 soil samples,both within the first 30 cm depth and within the 30-60 cm interval.The potential impact of the petroleum activities and their effects on the environment and agricultural development in the area will be evaluated by studying the distribution of the chemical elements analyzed,particularly total petroleum hydrocarbons(TPH).In addition,a thematic map was created using MapSys 10.0 software based on their distribution,indicating the polluted areas using color codes and values.This analysis and mapping revealed that 7,473 square meters of the site were severely contaminated at 30 cm,representing approximately 25% of the site.

Citrus oils as chain transfer agents in the cross-metathesis degradation of polybutadiene in block copolymers using Ru-alkylidene catalysts

The cross-metathesis degradation of poly(styrene-co-butadiene) (styrene, 30 wt%) (SB-1) and poly(styrene-co-butadiene) (styrene, 21 wt%) (SB- 2) in the presence of essential oils and d-limo-nene as chain transfer agents (CTAs) using Rualkylidene catalysts (PCy3)2(Cl)2Ru = CHPh (I) and (1,3-diphenyl-4,5-dihydroimidazol-2-ylidene) (PCy3)Cl2Ru=CHPh (II) was studied. Terpene-terminated butadiene oligomers and polystyrene blocks were obtained as products of the degradation of SB-1 and SB-2. Catalysts I and II showed high activity in the degradation of SB copolymers to produce the low molecular weight products (Mn = 276 - 335 g·mol-1) and yields ranging from 91% - 95%. The cross-metathesis degradation of copolymers in organic solvents and in citrus oils (mandarin, orange and lemon oils) proceeded with similar efficiency and resulted in the same molecular weight butadiene oligomers. According to GS/MS (EI) analysis, the main products of the degradation of SB-1 copolymer with d-limonene were limonene-terminated oligomers of series Am (m = 1 - 4).

Highly Durable Ag-CuO Heterostructure-Decorated Mesh for Efficient Oil/Water Separation and In Situ Photocatalytic Dye Degradation

It is of great necessity yet still a challenge to develop superwetting functional interfacial materials for simultaneously separating insoluble oil and degrading soluble dye pollutants in practical wastewater.In this work,a Ag-CuO heterostructure-decorated mesh was fabricated via facile alkali etchingcalcination and photoreduction approaches.The as-synthesized mesh with superhydrophilicity and underwater superoleophobicity displayed high separation efficiency(>99.998%)for diverse oil/water mixtures.Besides,it demonstrated more superior photocatalytic performance in dye degradation than those of bare CuO nanostructure-coated materials,which is primarily attributed to the intensive visible light harvesting and efficient electron-holes separation occurred on noble metal-semiconductor heterostructures.Furthermore,on account of the tenacity of Cu substrate as well as enhanced structural stability,this binary composite-decorated mesh exhibited highly reliable durability and robustness after 10 cycles of photocatalytic degradation tests,and even being ultrasonic worn for 30 min.More importantly,our developed mesh was capable of in situ catalytic degrading water-soluble organic dyes during oil/water separation under visible light irradiation.Therefore,such a dexterous and feasible strategy may afford a new route to construct bifunctional and predurable materials for actual sewage purification.

Environmental Degradation Resulting from Oil Exploitation, and Population Displacement in the NigerDelta, Nigeria

Oil and gas exploration in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria began some fifty four （54） years ago. Since the early sixties till now, oil from this region of the Nigeria has been the major foreign exchange earner for the sustenance of the economy. Unfortunate to note is the fact that since oil exploration and exploitation began in the country in the Niger Delta, the region had not been at peace. The region had suffered all forms of environmental degradation resulting from crude oil spillage and gas flares. The peoples＇ source of livelihood has been destabilized thereby leading to high rate of poverty, social crises/conflict and involuntary migration of people for both security and succour. The people of the region are thus in severe pains and risk of extermination should the present trend of environmental degradation and negligence persist. Thus, this paper addresses the plight of the Niger Delta as a case study of the effect of environmental degradation on human vulnerability. It is believed that continuous existence of the Niger Delta people as a social sect is dependent on how prompt efforts are made to combat the environment nuisance in the region.

Oil Pollutants Degradation of Nano-MgO in Micro-Polluted Water

The removal of oil pollutants from water and purifying process of oil-polluted water are studied through catalytic degradation method with nano-MgO. The results indicated that catalytic degradation effect of nano-MgO on the oil pollutants was associated with dosage of nano-MgO, pH and water temperature. When oil content was 1.8 mg/L, 0.17 g nano-MgO was used and the removal rate of oil was 93.92%. Furthermore, nano-Mgo was a non-photosensitive catalyst. GC/MS analysis showed that the amount of petroleum-based pollutants in water was reduced 73.77% from the previous 61 kinds to 16 kinds, and the total peak area was reduced 96.05% after catalytic degradation of nano-MgO. Therefore, nano-MgO has an excellent effect on the catalytic degradation of oil pollutants and can be applied in the treatment of oil wastewaters.

The Degradation and Pollution of Soils on the Territory of the Kovykta Gas Condensate Field

In this paper, research results from the time interval 2002-2012 are used to give an account of the chemical composition of soils on the territory of the Kovykta gas condensate field. The findings presented provide a better understanding of the ecological state of soil cover, its resilience to anthropogenic impacts, and its possible disturbance caused by the drilling pad construction activity, and by the laying of geophysical profiles. An analysis of soil pollution for the study territory generally showed that the soils are polluted with chemical elements which refer to toxicity classes： Pb, Cu, Ni, Cr, Ba and Mn. High levels ofoil products were detected near boreholes. Strong mineralization was recorded in the soil near borehole. It has a chloride-sodium chemical composition. As a result of the construction of foundation pits, recesses, ditches and earth embankments, the soil is totally destroyed, and rock outcrops show up. Disturbances of the sod cover due to road construction or even by all-terrain vehicles in these extreme conditions entail an accelerated development of linear erosion to form scours and gullies. Elimination of the canopy layer leads to an increase in surface heating, and to an acceleration of permafrost thawing. Swamping is accelerated on negative relief forms due to the increased entry of melt waters.

Hydrocarbon-Degrading Bacteria and Paraffin from Polluted Seashores 9 Years after the Nakhodka Oil Spill in the Sea of Japan

Pollution of petroleum hydrocarbons, in particular oil spills, has attracted much attention in the past and recent decades. Oil spills influence natural microbial community, and physical and chemical properties of the affected sites. The biodegradation of hydrocarbons by microorganisms is one of the primary ways by which oil spill is eliminated from contaminated sites. One such spill was that of the Russian tanker the Nakhodka that spilled heavy oil into the Sea of Japan on January 2, 1997. The impact of the Nakhodka oil spill resulted in a viscous sticky fluid fouling the shores and affected natural ecosystems. This paper describes the weathering of hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria （genus Pseudomonas） and crystallized organic compounds from the Nakhodka oil spill-polluted seashores after nine years. The Nakhodka oil has hardened and formed crust of crystalline paraffin wax as shown by XRD analysis （0.422, 0.377, and 0.250 nm d-spacing） in association with graphite and calcite after 9 years of bioremediation. Anaerobic reverse side of the oil crust contained numerous coccus typed bacteria associated with halite. The finding of hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria and paraffin wax in the oil crust may have a significant effect on the weathering processes of the Nakhodka oil spill during the 9- year bioremediation.

Microstructure Formation and Degradation Mechanism of Cementitious Plugging Agent Slurries

The hydration products and microstructure of class G oil well cement and a newly developed plugging agent （YLD） slurries cured in the simulated temperature and pressure environment, which was of similar temperature and pressure with those at the bottom of oil well in a normal depth, were investigated using XRD, TG and SEM. Severe leakage is confirmed at the interface between hardened slurries and steel tube during the dynamically curing process, which induces the quick loss of cementing property of slurries. This should be the dominating cause of degradation of class G oil well cement slurry. A secondary hydration process can take place at the eroded interface of hardened YLD plugging agent slurry. Newly formed C-S-H gel has a self-healing effect to repair the damaged interface, which unceasingly maintains the cementing property of the YLD plugging agent slurry. Therefore, the effective using period of YLD plugging agent can be prolonged.

Wetland bacteria isolated from Huangpu River-Yangtze River estuary and its degradation on diesel

Oil contaminated soil was collected from Huangpu River-Yangtze River estuary wetland, with the aim of isolating oil-degrading microorganisms and evaluating their ability to degrade diesel. Three bacterial strains were discovered and identified by sequencing their 16S rDNA genes, two were Pseudomonas and one was Alcaligcnes. The proper growth conditions of each bacterium were measured and presented for diesel biodegradation. Biodegradation assays revealed that the degradation rates of three bacterial strains were 42.5%, 14.6% and 15.9% in 7 d respectively. They all play an important role on the nalkanes within the range of C16-C25 components of diesel. The results indicated that the oil-degraders can adapt to degrade diesel. The bacterial strains can be used in wetland diesel pollution control.

Transport and behavior of marine oil spill containing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in mesocosm experiments

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons(PAHs)are one of the most important groups in oil,and re sponsible for major toxic and/or carcinogenic impact on humans and wildlife.It is important to understand the behavior of PAHs in marine environment after an oil-spill incident.However,interaction between petroleum PAHs and microbial communities in a marine environment remains unclear.Therefore,a series of mesocosm experiments were conducted.in which water-accommodated fraction(WAF)of oil was generated to simulate an oil-spill scenario and to analyze the transport and behavior of marine oil spill containing PAHs with and without dispersants.Results indicate that the application of dispersant could increase the concentration of total PAHs in water column due mainly to significant increase in the concentration of highmolecular weight(HMW)PAHs at a lower removal rate.At the end of the 7-day experiment,significant amount of HMW PAHs were accumulated in sediment.In general,the application of dispersant did not increase the sediment uptake of PAHs but increased the PAHs concentration in water column.

Urban Agriculture:A Transitional Mechanism for Reducing Environmental Degradation and Fossil Fuel over Dependence

With the increasing population in the urban cities of the world,the demand for food from distant areas has been on the rise but at the expense of scarce natural resources like oil,water and forest,etc.However,producing food locally in urban centers provides a sustainable mechanism of reducing the carbon,food or ecological footprints of these cities in particular and environmental degradation in general.It creates a circular metabolic system in which the natural inputs are efficiently harnessed rather than the linear metabolic system in which resources flow in and wastes flow out.This article analyzes some urban agricultural local initiatives in urban centers of the worlds that promote a circular metabolic systems and proposes the procedure that can be adopted to promote urban agriculture.

Impacts of Oil Exploration (Oil and Gas Conflicts;Niger Delta as a Case Study)

The discovery of Oil and Gas in Nigeria led to exploration of crude oil for revenue basis. Oil exploration and exploitation caused environmental problems which resulted into major conflicts in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria. The article examines the impact of oil exploration, and oil and gas conflicts in Niger Delta area and it highlights the problems of pipeline vandalism, structure of oil and gas and the general obstacles in the industry. It discovers that pipeline vandalism, crude oil theft, pollution, oil spillage causes serious environmental degradation which resulted into serious conflicts. The article discovered that environmental problems in the area dislodged the people of their means of livelihood both in the area of fishing and farming. It recommends that there should be a compelling environmental restoration of natural resources by deploying land treatment technologies. Government should sanction multinational companies discharging oils or creating environmental pollution through necessary laws and regulations.

随钻式含油钻屑无害化循环利用技术研究

废弃油基及合成基(气制油)钻井液钻屑资源回收价值高,再生循环利用技术处理含油钻屑,不仅具有经济价值,还具有明显的环境效益。针对含油岩屑特性,基于回收废水和回收基液性能、固体废渣检测和经济性评价,对撬装随钻式含油钻屑热降解循环利用装置进行评价。现场应用研究表明,使用撬装式多回程电磁加热解析技术处理含油钻屑,可以实现含油钻屑减量化、无害化和资源化,从而实现连续生产,解决了随钻含油钻屑处置及资源化利用技术难题。