Biodegradation of Petroleum Hydrocarbons in Soil by Microbial Consortium

Abstract

The most common problems today are caused due to petroleum products, their use and their degradation. If exposed to the environment they can be hazardous to the surroundings as well as life forms. Thus remediation of these is of utmost importance. Bioremediation is a non-invasive and cost effective technique for the clean-up of these petroleum hydrocarbons.
In this study we have investigated the ability of microorganisms present in the soil itself to degrade these hydrocarbons so that contaminated soils can be treated using microbial consortium. Soil from areas near workhouses and garages is used to isolate the microorganism which is further used to create an inoculum, whose ability to degrade heavy as well as light crude oil is assessed quantitatively. The quantitative analysis is carried out gravimetrically. The process parameters are optimized first and then degradation study is carried out in terms of biomass, dissolved oxygen and the amount of oil degraded.