Bioremediation of oil spills

2. BIOREMEDIATION OF OIL SPILLS

3. GROUP MEMBERS
 MUHAMMAD ARSLAN (16-ENV-76)
 HUSSNAIN JAVED (16-ENV-19)
 M. UMAR AHSAN (16-ENV-42)
 ZAIN UL ABAIDEEN (16-ENV-48)

4. OBJECTIVE
 Our main purpose of the report is to describe
 what are oil spills?
 How they occur?
 Their impact on the environment and living organisms ?
 To describe bioremediation and their types.
 How bioremediation can be used to the treatment of the soil or water
body contaminated by the oil spills.

5. What are oil spills ??
 An oil spill is the release of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the
environment especially marine areas, due to human activity and is the form
of pollution. Oil spills maybe due to release of crude oil, off shore
platforms, drilling rigs, and wells as well as spills of refine petroleum
products. Cleanup of oil spill is difficult and depend upon many factors. It
may take weeks, months or even years.

7. Major Effects of Oil Spills
 Local industries
 Human health
 Marine ecosystem including animal and plant life
 Vegetation & mangroves
 Effect on marine life
 Damage Beaches, Marshlands and Fragile Marne Ecosystem

8. Methods for the treatment of oil spills
 The methods chosen to clean up an oil spill are determined based upon
the type of oil spilled, the location and its proximity to sensitive
environments, and other environmental factors.
 Mechanical methods- booms, skimmers, and truck vacuums.
 Chemical methods- dispersants, surface washing agents, and surface
collecting agents.
 Biological methods- use of microbial cultures, enzyme additives, and
nutrient additives to increase the rate of biodegradation of the
contaminants.
 Natural methods- another course action. Simply allows the area to
recover naturally and is cheaper than any other method.

9. Bioremediation
 Bioremediation is the use of microbes to clean up contaminated soil and
groundwater. Microbes are very small organisms, such as bacteria, that live
naturally in the environment. Bioremediation stimulates the growth of
certain microbes that use contaminants as a source of food and energy.
 Bioremediation can be used for the treatment of the site contaminated by
the oil spills. This technique is usually preferred because of their low cost
and ease.

10. (Contd. .)
 Bioremediation of a contaminated site typically works in one of two ways:
 If ways are found to enhance the growth of whatever pollution-eating
microbes might already be living at the contaminated site.
 In the second, less common case, specialized microbes are added to
degrade the contaminants.
 Bioremediation provides a good cleanup strategy for some types of
pollution, but as you might expect, it will not work for all. For example,
bioremediation may not provide a feasible strategy at sites with high
concentrations of chemicals that are toxic to most microorganisms. These
chemicals include metals such as cadmium or lead, and salts such as
sodium chloride.

11. Bio augmentation
 Biological augmentation is the addition of archaea or bacterial cultures
required to speed up the rate of degradation of a contaminant. Organisms
that originate from contaminated areas may already be able to break down
waste, but perhaps inefficiently and slowly.

12. (Contd. .)
 Addition of microbes to supplement the current population to degrade oil
and other hydrocarbons.
 This is usually not necessary, since these microbes are present in nearly
every location.
 In order to utilize microbes, it is first essential to find which type of
microbes are capable of degrading oil and determine their nutrient and
environmental requirements.
 These are genera of microbes that are known to degrade hydrocarbons.
 The degradation of oil will only occur if the other requirements re meet,
such as available nutrients and the proper environmental temperature.

13. Bio stimulation
 Bio stimulation involves the modification of the environment to stimulate
existing bacteria capable of bioremediation. This can be done by addition
of various forms of rate limiting nutrients and electron acceptors, such as
phosphorus, nitrogen, oxygen, or carbon (e.g. in the form of molasses).

14. (Contd. .)
 Addition of nutrients to aid in the growth of the indigenous microbe
population.
 Major nutrients: carbon, nitrogen, phosphorous, oxygen and water.
 Main concerns are oxygen supply and temperature.
 Nutrients must be available and in contact with microbes.
 1 g of hydrocarbon requires 150mg N and 30mg p.
 C:N:P= 100:5:1.
 Commonly used water soluble nutrient products include mineral nutrient
salts like NaNO3, NH4NO3, K2HPO4.

15. Advantages of bioremediation
 Less expensive
 Natural process
 Not disruptive to surrounding ecosystems
 Does not require moving oil into another location
 Continues to improve conditions

16. Disadvantages of Bioremediation
 Bio-augmentation not very effective
 Success depends on proper nutrients and environmental conditions
 Take time to evaluate site
 Take time to see results

17. Exxon Valdez Oil Spill
 On March 24, 1989, the tanker Exxon Valdez grounded on Bligh Reef in
Alaska’s Prince William Sound, rupturing its hull and spilling nearly 11
million gallons of crude oil into a remote, scenic, and biologically
productive body of water.

18. Conclusion
 Oil spills can happen anywhere
 Require quick reaction time
 Various methods available
 Bioremediation is an emerging process that needs to be analyzed farther
to see the true effectiveness of the process
 Bioremediation is the process preferred for the treatment of oil spills
because of its low cost and ease