Application of biosurfactant produced by an adaptive strain of C.tropicalis MTCC230 in microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR) and removal of motor oil from contaminated sand and water

Abstract

Microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR) represents the use of microorganisms or their products to recover remaining oil trapped up in oil reservoirs. In this study adaptive strain C. tropicalis MTCC230 was used to determine its suitability in MEOR. Biosurfactant produced from an adaptive strain C. tropicalis MTCC230 was characterized as lipopeptide surfactin by Near IR, FTIR spectrum and HPLC and mass spectroscopy analysis. It can significantly reduce the surface tension 72 mN/m to 32 mN/m, with the critical micelle concentration (CMC) of 32.5 mg/l and B. subtilis MTCC2423 used as a standard surfactin (Biosurfactant) producing strain for comparative study. It shows stable Physiochemical properties under the extreme pH(2–12), temperature(30°C-90 °C) and salinity(2%–10%) that promote its potential use in enhanced oil recovery. Oil spreading method and soil washing analysis confirmed it suitability to remove the hydrocarbon contaminants from water and soil. Laboratory scale sand pack column saturated with four stroke engine oil resulted ∼39.80% additional oil recovery (AOR), suggesting its suitability for commercial use in microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR) in oil reservoirs. © 2018 Elsevier B.V.