Bioremediation of Alkane Hydrocarbons Using Bacterial Consortium From Soil

Abstract

Background: Contamination of soil with organic pollutants is one of the most important environmental challenges. Bioremediation is a simple and economical method for treatment of hydrocarbon-contaminated soil. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the simultaneous bioremediation of n-hexadecane and n-dodecane from soil in an S-SBR using two types of bacterial consortium isolated from oil contaminated soils and compost. Methods: In this study, S-SBR reactor was used at a pilot scale. For polluting the soil, agricultural soil was used. The n-hexadecane and n-dodecane were analyzed with GC-FID. Two microbial consortiums type A (Acinetobacter radioresistence, Bacillus subtilis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) and type B (Ochrobactrum oryzae, Bacillus sp. and Sphingomonas yanoikuyae) were used. Type A and B were isolated from soil and compost, respectively. Results: Maximum simultaneous bioremediation of n-hexadecane (17.61%) and n-dodecane (28.55%) was done by consortium type A. The maximum simultaneous bioremediation of n-hexadecane and n-dodecane by consortium type B was 13.22% and 19.24%, respectively. Conclusions: The findings of this study showed the simultaneous bioremediation of n-hexadecane and n-dodecane in an S-SBR using two types of the bacterial consortium (type A and B) during a three-day period was relatively satisfactory. Hydrocarbon removal by bacteria isolated from polluted soils was more than bacteria that had been isolated from compost.