Biodegradation of petroleum sludge by methylobacterium sp. strain ZASH

A bacterium was isolated from sludge-contaminated soil in a petroleum refinery and tested for its ability to degrade aliphatic hydrocarbon compounds present in petroleum sludge. The isolate was grown on minimal salt media agar supplemented with 1% (w/v) petroleum sludge. The isolate was tentatively...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Shamsul Harumain, Zakuan Azizi, Mohamad, Mohd Azrul Naim, Nordin, Noor Faizul Hadry, Abd Shukor, Mohd Yunus
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia 2023
Online Access:http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/106883/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/106883/1/Biodegradation%20of%20petroleum%20sludge%20by%20methylobacterium%20sp.%20strain%20ZASH.pdf
Description
Summary:A bacterium was isolated from sludge-contaminated soil in a petroleum refinery and tested for its ability to degrade aliphatic hydrocarbon compounds present in petroleum sludge. The isolate was grown on minimal salt media agar supplemented with 1% (w/v) petroleum sludge. The isolate was tentatively identified as Methylobacterium s p. s train ZASH based on the partial 16s rDNA molecular phylogeny. The bacterium grew optimally between the temperatures of 30°C and 35°C, pH 7 and 7.5, 0.5% and 1.5% (v/v) Tween 80 as the surfactant, and between 1% and 2% (w/v) peptone as the nitrogen source. The constants derived from the Haldane equation were ?max = 0.039 hr–1, Ks = 0.385% (w/v) total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) or 3,850 mg/L TPH, and Ki =1.12% (w/v) TPH or 11,200 mg/L. The maximum biodegradation rate exhibited by this strain was 19 mg/L/hr at an initial TPH concentration of 10,000 mg/L. Gas chromatography analysis revealed that after 15 days the strain was able to degrade all aliphatic n-alkanes investigated with different efficiencies. Shorter n-alkanes were generally degraded more rapidly than longer n-alkanes with 90% removal for C-12 compared to only 30% removal for C-36. The addition of sawdust did not improve bacterial degradation of petroleum hydrocarbons, but it assisted in the removal of remaining undegraded hydrocarbons through adsorption.