Combination of a crude oil-degrading bacterial consortium under the guidance of strain tolerance and a pilot-scale degradation test

Under the guidance of strain tolerance, a new combination method for crude oil-degrading bacterial consortium was studied. Firstly, more than 50 efficient crude oil-degrading and biosurfactant producing bacteria were isolated from petroleum-contaminated soil and water in Tianjin Binhai New Area Oil field, China. Twenty-four of them were selected for further study. These strains were identified as belonging Pseudornonas aeruginosa, Bacillus subtilis, Brevibacillus brevis, Achrornobacter sp., Acinetobacter venetianus, Lysinibacillus rnacroides, Klebsiella oxytoca, Stenotrophornonas rhizophila, Rhodococcus sp. and Bacillus thuringiensis. A shake-flask degradation test revealed that 12 of these strains could degrade over 50% of 1% crude oil concentration in 7 d. Of these, 8 strains were able to produce biosurfactants. Furthermore, environmental tolerance experiments indicated that the majority of the strains had the ability to adapt to extreme environments including high temperatures, alkaline en- vironments and high salinity environments. A mixed bacterial agent comprising the strains WB2, W2, W3 and HA was developed based on the environmental tolerance tests and subjected to the pilot-scale degradation test indicating that this bacterial agent could degrade 85.2% of 0.8% crude oil concentration in 60 d. Our results suggest that the application of this mixed agent could remediate crude oil polluted soils in saline and alkaline environments.

Genetic types and distribution of shallow-buried natural gases

Great volumes of shallow-buried （〈2,000 m） natural gases which are mainly composed of biogases and low-mature gases have been found in the Mesozoic-Cenozoic sedimentary basins in China. Many shallow gas reservoirs in China are characterized by coexistence of biogas and low-mature gas, so identifying the genetic types of shallow gases is important for exploration and development in sedimentary basins. In this paper, we study the gas geochemistry characteristics and distribution in different basins, and classify the shallow gas into two genetic types, biogas and low-mature gas. The biogases are subdivided further into two subtypes by their sources, the source rock-derived biogas and hydrocarbon-derived biogas. Based on the burial history of the source rocks, the source rock-derived biogases are divided into primary and secondary biogas. The former is generated from the source rocks in the primary burial stage, and the latter is from uplifted source rocks or those in a secondary burial stage. In addition, the identifying parameters of each type of shallow gas are given. Based on the analysis above, the distributions of each type of shallow gas are studied. The primary biogases generated from source rocks are mostly distributed in Quaternary basins or modem deltas. Most of them migrate in watersoluble or diffused mode, and their migration distance is short. Reservoir and caprock assemblages play an important role in primary biogas accumulation. The secondary biogases are distributed in a basin with secondary burial history. The oil-degraded biogases are distributed near heavy oil pools. The low-mature gases are widely distributed in shallow-buried reservoirs in the Meso-Cenozoic basins.

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.