Maximization of the Production of a Low-Cost Biosurfactant for Application in the Treatment of Soils Contaminated with Hydrocarbons

Alexandre Augusto P. Selva Filho, Yslla Emanuelly Faccioli, Attilio Converti (), Rita de Cássia F. Soares da Silva and Leonie A. Sarubbo ()
Additional contact information
Alexandre Augusto P. Selva Filho: Rede Nordeste de Biotecnologia (RENORBIO), Universidade Federal Rural Pernambuco (UFRPE), Rua Dom Manuel de Medeiros, s/n-Dois Irmãos, Recife 52171-900, Brazil
Yslla Emanuelly Faccioli: Rede Nordeste de Biotecnologia (RENORBIO), Universidade Federal Rural Pernambuco (UFRPE), Rua Dom Manuel de Medeiros, s/n-Dois Irmãos, Recife 52171-900, Brazil
Attilio Converti: Instituto Avançado de Tecnologia e Inovação (IATI), Rua Potyra, n. 31, Prado, Recife 50751-310, Brazil
Rita de Cássia F. Soares da Silva: Instituto Avançado de Tecnologia e Inovação (IATI), Rua Potyra, n. 31, Prado, Recife 50751-310, Brazil
Leonie A. Sarubbo: Rede Nordeste de Biotecnologia (RENORBIO), Universidade Federal Rural Pernambuco (UFRPE), Rua Dom Manuel de Medeiros, s/n-Dois Irmãos, Recife 52171-900, Brazil

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 18, 1-18

Abstract: Oil spills occur during different operations in the energy sector, such as crude oil transport, tank filling and cleaning, and fueling. Such spills are one of the major causes of the accumulation of oil derivatives in the environment, requiring the remediation of soil and marine environments. The production of a biosurfactant by Starmerella bombicola ATCC 222214 was maximized by investigating the effect of different carbon/nitrogen sources and culture conditions. The mineral medium selected for its production was supplemented with 2.0% potato peel flour, 5.0% waste canola frying oil, and 0.20% urea. The culture conditions were a 200 rpm shaking speed, a fermentation time of 180 h, and a 4.0% inoculum size. The yield of isolated biosurfactant was 7.72 g/L. The emulsification rates of heavy oil and motor oil were 65.55 and 95.00%, respectively, indicating an affinity for complex hydrocarbons. In stability tests performed at different pH values, temperatures, and NaCl concentrations, the surface tension ranged from 27.14 to 31.08 mN/m. The critical micelle concentration was 2.0 g/L, at which the surface tension was 33.26 mN/m. The biosurfactant was composed of 6,6-dimethoxy-octanoic acid and azelaic acid, and it exhibited low toxicity to Brassica oleracea and Solanum lycopersicum . In the kinetic test, the biosurfactant allowed for the removal of 82.30%, 96.65%, and 98.25% of exhaust motor oil from sand, silty soil, and clay soil, while in the static test in packed columns, the removal yields were 66.62%, 63.03%, and 58.45%, respectively. The biosurfactant produced in this study is promising for environmental remediation applications in the energy sector.

Keywords: oil spills; biosurfactant; Starmerella bombicola; soil; energy sector (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/18/7970/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/18/7970/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:18:p:7970-:d:1476595

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().