What is MEOR?
/in News, Petrox/by Mike SaulMEOR is microbial enhanced oil recovery. Some microbes produce biosurfactants that increase the water-solubility of oil. The biosurfactants’ benefit microbes by making it easier for the microbes to metabolize oil. Additionally, the biosurfactants can strip oil from rock and soil surfaces to improve environmental remediation by extraction, air stripping, or sparging.
The Pseudomonas sp. in Petrox are naturally occuring petroleum-degrading microbes with the broadest metabolic capabilities. Their production of biosurfactants is one of their features that makes them so effective. Pseudomonas sp. produce both glycolipid and lipopeptide surfactants.
An initial increase in concentrations may be observed after Petrox is used at a site due to the biosurfactants. However, the concentrations decrease as the microbes metabolize the oil. This feature has been used to remove oil safely from inaccessible or sensitive locations such as near utilities, tanks or building structures.
Micorbial Insights, Inc. (micorbe.com) has biosurfactant assays available t0 test for the presence of the genes in Pseudomonas sp. and other organisms that produce biosurfactants. If tests show that they are abscent from a site, you can enhance the oil recovery with Petrox and the surfactants it produces.
In addition to the biosurfactants that Petrox produces, a non-ionic surfactant is added to Petrox to formulate Petrox EC. This combination makes Petrox EC a strong cleaning agent to remove oil and grease from surfaces or contaminated subsurface soil or rock.
CL Solutions continues to expand the use of biological products such as Petrox and Petrox EC for bioremediation and microbial enhanced oil recovery.
Bioremediation of Phthalates
/in Chemical Industries, News, Sustainability/by Mike SaulFast and Economical Phthalate Contamination Removal
Bioremediation of phthalates can reduce risks to human health and the environment. Phthalates are a a family of common industrial chemicals used in plastics and other consume products. Phthalates can damage the liver, kidneys, lungs and reproductive system. Petrox microbes can remove these contaminants from water or soil to reduce potential exposure to these risks.
Petrox bioremediation of phthalates has been demonstrated in field and laboratory studies to remove phthalates from soil and ground water. Field application of Petrox bioremediation reduced bis(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (BEP) concentrations from 650 ppm to 397 ppm in soil and 300 to 39 ppb in ground water at a site in Rochester, New York. At the same site di-n-octylphthalate (DOP) in soil was reduced from 7.5 to 1.9 ppm. Click here to view the case study.
Oil-Contaminated Water Treatment
/in Custom Blend microbes, Industrial Sites, News, Oil Fields, Petroleum Remediation, Storage Tanks, Sustainability/by Mike SaulSustainable Bioremediation of Industrial Wastewater
CL Solutions provides a special consortium of microbes for oil-contaminated water treatment. Under various conditions, the oil removal rate was as much as 1,300 mg/L/day. In some situations the remediation goal is simply to remove the visible sheen or separate-phase oil. With aeration, CL Solutions microbes were able to remove the visible oil layer and reduce the TPH concentration from 29% to less than 1% in 30 days at a waste oil lagoon. For more information and other case studies click here.
Oil-Water Separator Discharge Improvement
Similar to waste water treatment in lagoons, Petrox is used to improve the performance of industrial and commercial oil-water separators by degrading dissolved-phase oil. The treatment goal is to reduce the TPH concentration to below discharge limits to avoid fines, surcharges and potential discontinuation of service. The Petrox organisms may be introduced into the collection and treatment system at any point, but are usually added to the collection or equalization sump for longer contact time. In most cases, the dissolved phase total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) is reduced by 50% to 90% in a manner of days.
For example, at a large city municipal Petrox reduced the TPH discharge from 25.9 to 7.40 mg/L in three days. At smaller retail oil-change centers the reduction was from 278 mg/L TPH to 14.1 mg/L TPH in 21 days. The biological treatment is maintained by adding a gallon of Petrox to the sump weekly.
The cost for maintaining discharge compliance at these applications is as little as $250 per month.
Pesticide Bioremediation – Landfarming Application for DDD, DDE and Toxaphene
/in Industrial Sites, News, Petrox, Sustainability/by Mike SaulPetrox® bioremediation was used to remediate pesticide-contaminated soil at an industrial location in California.
Soil Remediation
The soil contamination consisted of pesticides including 4,4-DDD, 4’4-DDE and toxaphene. Soil samples were sent to CL Solutions for bench-scale treatability studies. The following table shows the maximum detected concentrations and the treatment results.
Contaminant |
Untreated Concentrations (ug/Kg) |
Post-treatment concentrations (ug/Kg) |
4,4-DDD |
390 |
250 |
4,4-DDE |
380 |
220 |
Toxaphene |
8,500 |
440 |
After the bench-scale verification, full-scale bioremediation was implemented. The contaminated soil was placed in two stockpiles and treated with Petrox. The following table shows the pre- and post-treatment results.
Contaminant Concentrations (ug/Kg) |
||||
Contaminant |
Pile 1 |
Pile 2 |
||
Before |
After |
Before |
After |
|
4,4-DDD |
310 |
170 |
14 |
nd ( <5) |
4,4-DDE |
810 |
300 |
8.7 |
nd (<5) |
Toxaphene |
12,000 |
7,300 |
380 |
nd (<5) |
Conclusions
The Petrox treatment successfully reduced the concentrations of pesticide contaminants in the soil stockpiles. For additional information or assessment of applicability to your site contact CL Solutions.
Contact Us
CL Solutions
1775 Mentor Ave., Suite 705
Norwood, OH 45212
Call: 513-284-5940