TITLE:
Petroleum: From Basic Features to Hydrocarbons Bioremediation in Oceans
AUTHORS:
Edmo M. Rodrigues, Marcos R. Tótola
KEYWORDS:
Bioremediation, Biostimulation, Bioaugmentation, Hydrocarbon Degradation, Oil Spill
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Access Library Journal,
Vol.2 No.11,
November
17,
2015
ABSTRACT: This review provides a general overview of petroleum characteristics and
bioremediation strategies applications in oceanic environments contaminated
with petroleum hydrocarbons during exploration and transportation processes
offshore. The vast oil reserves in the offshore fields have been explored for
the production of light and heavy oil. The hydrocarbons exhibit very different
physicochemical characteristics including those of hydrophobicity, molecular
weight, melting and boiling points, toxicity and recalcitrance. This review is
to highlight the basic oil characteristics, and to reveal the manner in which
accidents can occur resulting in oil spills in the sea. We focus on hydrocarbon
degradation through the application of bioremediation techniques, because this
is considered more advantageous economically compared with the physical or
chemical remediation techniques, as well as being more effective in contaminant
removal. This study provides knowledge about strategies that can be applied in
accidents involving oil spill on the ocean and thus boosts oil spill cleanup
technology and lowers the environmental risks of offshore management of
activities with petroleum.