Surfactant biocatalyst for remediation of recalcitrant organics and heavy metals
AssigneeSavannah River Nuclear Solutions, LLC
InventorsRobin L. Brigmon, Sandra Story, Denis J. Altman, Christopher J. Berry
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Abstract
Novel strains of isolated and purified bacteria have been identified which have the ability to degrade petroleum hydrocarbons including a variety of PAHs. Several isolates also exhibit the ability to produce a biosurfactant. The combination of the biosurfactant-producing ability along with the ability to degrade PAHs enhances the efficiency with which PAHs may be degraded. Additionally, the biosurfactant also provides an additional ability to bind heavy metal ions for removal from a soil or aquatic environment.
Claims7
A process of bioremediation of petroleum pollutants from a soil environment comprising the steps of:
- providing a supply of a contaminated soil having a petroleum pollutant;
- introducing into said supply of contaminated soil at least one biologically pure bacterial strain selected from the group consisting of ATCC accession numbers Flexibacter cf. sancti srs, PTA-5570;
- Pseudomonas fredriksbergensis srs;
- PTA-5571;
- Staphylococcus warneri LMG 19417 srs, PTA-5572;
- Sphingomonas srs, PTA-5573;
- Sphingomonas sp. s37 srs, PTA-5574;
- Phylobacterium srs, PTA-5575;
- Serratia ficaria srs, PTA-5576;
- Agrobacterium tumefaciens srs, PTA-5577;
- Rhizobium sp. sdw045 srs, PTA-5578;
- Ralstonia pickettii srs, PTA-5579;
- Alcaligenes piechaudii srs, PTA-5580;
- and Pseudomonas putida biotype b srs, PTA-5581, and
- providing adequate nutrients into said supply of contaminated soil for a treatment time sufficient for the at least one biologically pure bacterial strain to metabolize and degrade the petroleum pollutant.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.