Surendra Bateja

Coal is one of Earth’s most abundant fossil fuels, but, burning it presents a variety of environmental problems, including the release of atmosphere - polluting sulfur and nitrogen oxides and leftover ash containing toxic metals. Scientists have been trying to use bacteria to either remove these impurities or convert it into environmentally safe fuel, but, most microbes were unable to survive the harsh conditions present during processing of coal, such as high pressure, heat, and acidity. Recently, strains of the species like Leptospirillium ferrooxidans and Thiobacillus ferrooxidanes as well as a variety of mixed cultures, have been found which can survive under such conditions. These new microbes break down the coal’s complex molecules to form simpler ones, and concurrently remove sulfur and heavy- metal contaminants. The resulting cleaner coal can be burned or converted to liquid or gaseous fuel much more efficiently than untreated coal, along with producing fewer environmentally...

Hydrocarbons are organic compounds which are composed of two main elements-carbon and hydrogen. They also contain small quantities of molecules containing sulphur, nitrogen, metals, oxygen, etc., (Vieira et al., 2007). Petroleum, in Latin means rock oil , which occurs as a dark, sticky, viscous liquid. Petroleum products such as gasoline, kerosene, diesel / fuel oil, crude oil are complex mixture of organic compounds basically of paraffinic, K e y w o r d s

Sixty nine hydrocarbon utilizing bacteria isolated from selected crude oil contaminated sites of ONGC (Gujarat) were screened for biosurfactant producing potential. VSHUB005 showing 28.59 ± 0.50% emulsification index, 69.73 ± 0.53 mN/m surface tension and 90.46 ± 0.08% interfacial tension reduction was considered as potential biosurfactant producer using primary (hemolytic activity and CTAB agar plate method) secondary (drop collapse, oil spread, emulsification index and surface tension) and tertiary (interfacial tension) screening methods. Very strong, negative correlation between surface tension measurement and interfacial tension reduction (rs= -0.961, AE = -1.000) was measured. VSHUB005 was identified as P. aeruginosa by 16S rDNA gene sequencing technique. The GenBank accession number for 16S rDNA sequence and NCIM culture deposition ID assigned are KC713611 and 5514, respectively

Many oil fields in India, like world over, produce waxy crude, and face severe wax deposition problem not only in down hole tubulars but also in the well bore region and surface flow lines. Paraffin present in the crude begins to crystallize and deposit around well bore and in tubulars as and when there is decline in pressure or temperature, frequently resulting in complete blockage of flow passage and severe production losses. Traditional therapies for mitigating this problem such as thermal, magnetic, mechanical scraping, solvent and chemical treatment etc., usually applied through production tubing are not only cumbersome, costly or hazardous but also provide only temporary respite. Moreover, for wells completed with SRP the therapies get limited to oil /chemical treatment only , that too requiring frequent application, thereby making such wells more susceptible to paraffin deposition problem and production losses. One field proven novel microbial system, developed for down hole ...

Oil reservoirs were considered to be hostile to familiar forms of surface life due to their harsh environment; however, more recent research has revealed that many oil reserves contain a variety of active and diverse microorganisms. In general, these microorganisms have been studied in the context of fouling, souring, and degradation of oil reservoirs. Various gases are frequently associated with oil wells, and research indicates that methanogenesis, the creation of methane, is another biological process occurring in some oil reservoirs. Oil being liquid, it is likely to be an easier substrate for the microbial consortia to contact, biodegrade, and convert to methane compared to solid-phase substrates such as coal and the kerogen in shale. Biodegradation is carried out by the consortia, and it has been shown that a mixed group of microorganisms is more effective at biodegrading organic compounds than any of the component strains acting alone. Clostridia and Thermatoga have been iden...

Severe wax deposition problem is encountered in down hole tubulars and at the face of producing zone in the well bore region and surface flow lines of most of the oil fields producing waxy crude. Paraffin in the crude begins to precipitate and deposit around well ...

ABSTRACT AbstractNMR spectra of twelve newly synthesised mercaptoacid amides are being reported and discussed.The syntheses and structure of more than thirty mercaptoacid amides have been reported(1‐3) from our laboratories. The study has revealed that N ‐phenyl‐2‐mercaptoacetamide and related compounds have intramolecular hydrogen bonded structure (I).

ABSTRACT 2 Compact 16S rDNA a b s t r a c t Hydrocarbon pollution due to activities of petroleum industry is a major problem worldwide especially in developing countries like India. Hydrocarbon utilizing bacterial consortium (HUBC) consisting of six (06) bacterial isolates viz. Ochrobactrum sp. (01), Stenotrophomonas maltophilia (02) and P. aeruginosa (03) isolated from crude oil polluted sites of ONGC fields of Gujarat, India. The isolates were identified by using VITEK ® 2 Compact and 16S rDNA gene sequencing. Scale up study of crude oil degradation (K#X, 3% v/v) by HUBC using Bushnell-Hass medium was performed under optimized growth conditions up to 75 days. Gravimetric and gas chromatographic analysis showed 83.70% and 83.49% (C8eC35) degradation, respectively. Presence of paraffins (C20eC40) in crude oil causes well clogging problem during exploration activities. The HUBC utilized paraffin content of crude oil and hence can be used to solve this problem. The findings of ex-situ bioaugmentation studies by halotolerant HUBC suggests its utility for effective in situ bioremediation of hydrocarbon contaminated sites as well as management of sea surface oil spills.