ABSTRACT
Biosurfactants have received considerable attention in the field of heavy-oil remediation processes. Heavy oil was used to isolate biosurfactant-producing and oil-degrading bacteria. According to 16S rRNA, the isolated bacteria was identified as Bacillus amyloliquefaciens. The critical micelle concentration (CMC) of the produced biosurfactant was 100 mg/L. Biosurfactant could greatly improve the properties of heavy oil and significantly improve the biodegradation. The viscosity reduction rate was from 24 to 47% over the temperature range of 30–90°C. Biodegradation rates of saturated hydrocarbon (C13–C33) were from 21 to 85%. The biodegradation accelerating rate of biosurfactant for different aromatic hydrocarbon series was 9.89%, 9.60%, 29.71%, 16.75%, and 10.04%. These findings demonstrate that the produced biosurfactant could be useful in environmental remediation processes.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant NO. 41403067) and Scientific Research Fund of China University of Petroleum, Beijing (KYJJ2012-01-24).