ГЕОЭКОЛОГИЯ


ИНЖЕНЕРНАЯ ГЕОЛОГИЯ. ГИДРОГЕОЛОГИЯ. ГЕОКРИОЛОГИЯ

Geoekologiya, 2018, Vol. 3, P. 43-55

PROCESSES OF BIOCHEMICAL DEGRADATION
OF OIL HYDROCARBONS IN THE UNSATURATED ZONE AND GROUNDWATER

V.S. Putilina, I.V. Galitskaya, T.I. Yuganova

Sergeev Institute of Environmental Geoscience, Russian Academy of Sciences Ulanskii per. 13, str. 2, Moscow, 101000 Russia.
E-mail: galgeoenv@mail.ru; vputilina@yandex.ru, tigryu@gmail.com

This article is an analytical review of the current literature on the problems of self-purification of the natural environment from oil hydrocarbons through microbial degradation. The stages of self- purification, the strains of microorganisms capable of decomposing oil hydrocarbons, mechanisms of decay and, as a result, the products of aerobic and anaerobic decomposition of oil hydrocarbons are discussed. The study of the composition of groundwater exposed to oil contamination showed that the biodegradation under anaerobic conditions is able to remove significant amounts of hydrocarbons from groundwater: anaerobic processes provided 60% of degraded total dissolved organic carbon, of these, 5% – by the reduction of Mn, 19% – Fe reduction and 36% – methanogenesis. Aerobic decomposition – 40% degraded organic carbon. The modeling results indicate that anaerobic processes provide more than half removal of the dissolved organic carbon at this site, which is consistent with geochemical estimates. Alkanes are resistant to chemical attack, but are easily enzymatically (microbially) oxidized. Cycloalkanes and aromatic hydrocarbons, in contrast, are more sensitive to chemical oxidation than to biological oxidation. Under favorable conditions, almost all compounds, down to the heaviest fractions are biodegradable. Its rate rapidly decreases the direction of n-alkanes > olefins > low molecular weight aromatic hydrocarbons > isoalkanes > cycloalkanes > PAHs > resinous-asphaltene compounds. Examples of stimulation of natural oil-degrading microflora are given.

Key words: oil, oil hydrocarbons, biodegradation, strains of microorganisms, aerobic processes, anaerobic processes, change in oil properties.

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