Studies on the Catalytic Bioamphiphile Facilitated Bioremediation of Ecalcitrant Hydrocarbons in Petroleum Oil Refining Industry Oil Sludge through Strain Improvement Strategies

Abstract

Petroleum oil refining industries generate colossal amount of recalcitrant petroleum hydrocarbons (PHCs) containing oily sludge from various industrial activities. More particularly, heavy crude oil sludge is generated at the bottom of storage tanks during the long term storage and contributing for a larger volume of oily solid wastes with high concentration of PHCs. The disposal/treatment of this oily solid waste becomes a major environmental challenge for the petroleum industries globally. Recalcitrance and hydrophobic nature of tank bottom petroleum oil sludge (POS) makes the existing treatment technologies inefficient, energy intensive, and also results in secondary pollution. Different strategies of bioremediation for the treatment of POS are increasingly reported; yet longer treatment duration and incomplete degradation remain as significant concerns in real time applications due to limited bioavailability of PHCs and slower microbial metabolic transformation rate newline