Microbiological Oxidation of High Viscosity Bitumen in Soil

• Main Authors: D. A. Filatov, M. A. Kopytov, V. C. Ovsyannikova, E. A. Elchaninova
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: al-Farabi Kazakh National University 2018-05-01
• Series: Eurasian Chemico-Technological Journal
• Subjects: oil pollution; highly viscous bitumen; biodegradation; aboriginal soil microflora; hydrocarbon-oxidizing; microorganisms; enzyme activity; saturated; cyclic and aromatic hydrocarbons; resins; asphaltenes
• Online Access: http://ect-journal.kz/index.php/ectj/article/view/692

This paper presents the results of an investigation of microbiological oxidation in the model soil system of high viscosity bitumen from the Bayan-Erkhet deposit (Mongolia) with a high content of heteroelements. It is shown that bitumen, being a mixture of high molecular weight components, has no inhibitory effect on the indigenous soil microflora. Its active growth in the presence of oil products starts without adaptation and lasts for a good part of experiment resulting in 15‒30 fold excess of microorganisms over its reference number. The enzymatic activity of the contaminated soil increases by a factor of 1.5‒2.0, which indicates an assimilation of various hydrocarbon compounds. The weight analysis revealed that the biodegradation of oil products after 180 days of the experiment was 50% of the initial contamination at initial waste oil concentration 50 g/kg (5%). The analysis by IR spectroscopy revealed an accumulation of oxygen-containing compounds which are intermediate products of bio-oxidation of bitumen components. The method of chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) revealed the ability of aboriginal soil microflora to mineralize virtually all hydrocarbons contained in the bitumen under study. Their biodegradation ranges from 18 to 97%. It was shown by the GC-MS method that high-molecular heteroatomic components of bitumen (resins and asphaltenes) also undergo a microbial degradation, since their molecular structure changed after the destruction. Thus, the number of structural units in a hypothetical molecule and that of heteroatoms increased due to the high content of oxygen-containing structures. In addition, the ratio of hydrocarbons (oils), resins, and asphaltenes contained in the sample is also changed.