الفهرس | Only 14 pages are availabe for public view |
Abstract Petroleum has always entered the biosphere by natural seepage but at rates much slowerthan those of the forced recovery of petroleum by drilling, which is estimated to beabout two billion metric tons per year. The production, transportation, refining and ultimately the disposal of used petroleum and petroleum products inevitably result in environmental pollution. Petroleum pollutants in the environment are destructive to birds and marine life and, when driven ashore, cause heavy economical losses due to aesthetic damage to recreationalbeaches. The successful biodegradation removal of petroleum hydrocarbons from sea and soils depends on the enzymatic capacities of microorganisms and various abiotic factors. Microbial hydrocarbon degradation requires suitable growth temperatures and available suppliesof fixed forms of nitrogen, phosphorus (fertilizers) and molecular oxygen. The potential usefulness of bioremediation to clean soils, sediments and aquifer materials contaminated with oil and petroleum hydrocarbon has been recognized for some time. The recognition of oil as a complex but largely biodegradable mixture of hydrocarbons and the knowledge that hydrocarbon degraders can be enriched in many, if not most, types of environments, has contributed greatly to the development of oil bioremediation technologies. In addition, bioremediation is rapidly gaining acceptance as a viable technology and if used prudently can provide efficient, inexpensive and environmentallysafe cleanup of waste chemicals. |