These Little Guys Eat Asphaltenes During Starvation
Class
Article
Department
Biological and Irrigation Engineering
Presentation Type
Poster Presentation
Abstract
Four consortia capable of utilizing asphaltene were isolated from oil-contaminated soil samples and oily sludges from Shiraz Refinery Complex and Asalooyeh oilfields. Asphaltene was used as the sole source of carbon and energy for the consortia. All experiments were carried out under aerobic static and shaking conditions. Two-month incubation at 40 °C and pH of 6.86 was applied to investigate asphaltene biodegradation. Dry biomass measurements at five days intervals during test periods were conducted to specify the consortia growth curves. Tests were performed at initial asphaltene concentrations of 2, 4, 10, 20, 30 and 35 g/L of asphaltene. All consortia gave promising results in term of asphaltene biodegradation. The amount of biodegraded asphaltene was directly proportional to the initial concentration of asphaltene in the culture. Maximum asphaltene utilization of 18.025±0.2 g/L resulted from one of the consortia under aerobic shaking condition with initial asphaltene concentration of 35 g/L. Differential Evolution Optimization method was also applied to obtain kinetic parameters for asphaltene biodegradation. The experimental data were fitted to Tessier model with reasonable accuracy.
Start Date
4-9-2015 12:00 PM
These Little Guys Eat Asphaltenes During Starvation
Four consortia capable of utilizing asphaltene were isolated from oil-contaminated soil samples and oily sludges from Shiraz Refinery Complex and Asalooyeh oilfields. Asphaltene was used as the sole source of carbon and energy for the consortia. All experiments were carried out under aerobic static and shaking conditions. Two-month incubation at 40 °C and pH of 6.86 was applied to investigate asphaltene biodegradation. Dry biomass measurements at five days intervals during test periods were conducted to specify the consortia growth curves. Tests were performed at initial asphaltene concentrations of 2, 4, 10, 20, 30 and 35 g/L of asphaltene. All consortia gave promising results in term of asphaltene biodegradation. The amount of biodegraded asphaltene was directly proportional to the initial concentration of asphaltene in the culture. Maximum asphaltene utilization of 18.025±0.2 g/L resulted from one of the consortia under aerobic shaking condition with initial asphaltene concentration of 35 g/L. Differential Evolution Optimization method was also applied to obtain kinetic parameters for asphaltene biodegradation. The experimental data were fitted to Tessier model with reasonable accuracy.