• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.20-26
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• 2021

In this work, an indigenous microbial consortium was obtained by selectively cultivating microbes using a long-aged petroleum-contaminated soil (Kuwait) containing recalcitrant petroleum hydrocarbons. The obtained microbial consortium was able to grow on and degrade the remaining petroleum hydrocarbons which could not have been utilized by the indigenous microbes in the original Kuwait soil. The following microbial community analysis using 16S rRNA gene sequencing suggested that the enhanced degradation of the remaining recalcitrant petroleum hydrocarbons by the novel microbial consortium may have been attributed to the selected bacterial populations belonging to Bacillus, Burkholderia, Sphingobacterium, Lachnospiraceae, Prevotella, Haemophilus, Pseudomonas, and Neisseria.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.659-663
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• 2009

Bacterial stain 3Y was isolated from a site that was contaminated with diesel for more than 15 years. The strain could grow on various petroleum using hydrocarbons as the sole carbon source. The strain grew not only on aliphatic hydrocarbons but also on aromatic hydrocarbons. 3Y grew on aliphatic petroleum hydrocarbons hexane or hexadecane, and aromatic petroleum hydrocarbons BTEX, phenol, biphenyl, or phenanthrene. The strain showed aromatic ring dioxygenase and meta-cleavage dioxygenase activities as determined by tests using indole and catechol. Aromatic ring dioxygenase is involved in the initial step of biodegradation of aromatic hydrocarbons while meta-cleavage dioxygenase catalyzes the cleavage of the benzene ring. Based on a nucleotide sequence analysis of its 16S rRNA gene, 3Y belongs to the genus Sphingomonas. A phylogenetic tress was constructed based on the nucleotide sequences of closest relatives of 3Y and petroleum hydrocarbon degrading sphingomonads. 3Y was in a cluster that was different from the cluster that contained well-known sphingomonads. The results of this study suggest that 3Y has the potential to cleanup oil-contaminated sites. Further investigation is warranted to optimize conditions to degrade petroleum hydrocarbons by the strain to develop a better bioremediation strategy.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2001.04a
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• pp.128-131
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• 2001

We evaluated natural attenuation of petroleum hydrocarbons in a shallow aquifer using a modeling study. The studied shallow aquifer was severely contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons, especially toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes (i.e, TEX). The exact spill history was not known. Therefor we used a contaminant level in May 1999 (the first sampling date of our integrated study) as an initial contaminant concentration. we calibrated required transport parameters using the contamination levels obtained from groundwater analyses in September of 1999. For fate and transport of the petroleum contaminants, five case 2 with sorption and degradation. case 3 with sorption and degradation (half decay constant compared with case 2), case 4 with degradation but no sorption, and case 5 with sorption but no degradation. For sorption and degradation, a linear sorption isotherm and first order irreversible decay was assumed, respectively and no additional contamination source to groundwater is also assumed.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.281-285
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• 2007

Cold environments, including polar and alpine regions, are colonized by a wide diversity of micro-organisms able to thrive at low temperatures. There is evidence of a wide range of metabolic activities in alpine cold ecosystems. Like polar microorganisms, alpine microorganisms playa key ecological role in their natural habitats for nutrient cycling, litter degradation, and many other processes. A number of studies have demonstrated the capacity of alpine microorganisms to degrade efficiently a wide range of hydrocarbons, including phenol, phenol-related compounds and petroleum hydrocarbons, and the feasibility of low-temperature bioremediation of European alpine soils by stimulating the degradation capacity of indigenous microorganisms has also been shown.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.442-447
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• 2005

Concentrations of aliphatic hydrocarbons in water, particulate matter, and sediment phase were measured at five stations in Gyeongan River. Aliphatic hydrocarbons from $n-C_{10}$ to $n-C_{17}$ were detected in the water phase and they might be originated from not only biogenic hydrocarbons also petroleum hydrocarbon. $n-C_{17}$ aliphatic hydrocarbon and fatty acids were detected in the particulate matter phase. They might be originated from biological sources such as phytoplankton. Short alkane chains from $n-C_{10}$ to $n-C_{13}$ were detected in the sediment phase. They might be originated from sedimentation of biological hydrocarbons decomposed by bacteria or adsorption of petroleum hydrocarbon from the water phase.

• Mass Spectrometry Letters
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.41-44
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• 2011

Molecular compositions of two types of heavy oil were studied using positive atmospheric pressure photoionization (APPI) Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS). Vacuum gas oil (VGO) was generated from vacuum distillation of atmospheric residual oil (AR), and slurry oil (SLO) was generated from catalytic cracking of AR. These heavy oils have similar boiling point ranges in the range of 210-$650^{\circ}C$, but they showed different mass ranges and double-bond equivalent (DBE) distributions. Using DBE and carbon number distributions, aromatic ring distributions, and the extent of alkyl side chains were estimated. In addition to the main aromatic hydrocarbon compounds, those containing sulfur, nitrogen, and oxygen heteroatoms were identified using simple sample preparation and ultra-high mass resolution FT-ICR MS analysis. VGO is primarily composed of mono- and di-aromatic hydrocarbons as well as sulfur-containing hydrocarbons, whereas SLO contained mainly polyaromatic hydrocarbons and sulfur-containing hydrocarbons. Both heavy oils contain polyaromatic nitrogen components. SLO inludes shorter aromatic alkyl side chains than VGO. This study demonstrates that APPI FT-ICR MS is useful for molecular composition characterization of petroleum heavy oils obtained from different refining processes.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.54-72
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• 2018

This study reviewed standard operation procedures for fractionation and analytical methods of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) in north america and european countries to aid proper establishment of risk assessment protocols associated with TPH exposure in Korea. In current, the TPH fraction methods established by Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) and Total Petroleum Hydrocarbon Criteria Working Group (TPHCWG) are most frequently employed worldwide. Both methods were developed on the basis of direct exposure of TPH from soil, although the method by TPHCWG also took into account the mobility of TPH. Volatile and extractable fractions of petroleum hydrocarbons were analyzed either separately or together. TPH fractionation methods were evaluated based on conservative toxicity values considering the uncertainty of risk assessment in light of current standard protocol for analyzing soil contaminants in Korea, and it was concluded that the method developed by MassDEP is more appropriate.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.397-403
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• 2006

Compositional characteristics and origin of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons(PAHs), which should be strongly regulated for environmental protection in the crude oils and petroleum products, have been investigated by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry(GC/MS). In the crude oils analyzed, two-rings compound(naphthalene) of PAHs was detected around $72.3\sim93.5%$, but five- or six-rings compound of PAHs was not detected. In the crude oils analyzed, the molecular ratio indices of Phe/Ant(phenanthrene/anthracene)>15, Fla/Pyr(fluoranthene/pyrene)<1, BaA/Chr(benzo (a)anthracene/chrysene)$\leq0.4$ could be effectively applied, and we found that the origin of PAHs was petrogenic sources. Total PAHs concentrations in the crude oils were increased with increasing API gravity and with decreasing sulfur contents of the analyzed crude oils. Five- or six-rings compound of PAHs were not included in ail petroleum products except bunker-C. Furthermore, the molecular ratio indices of Phe/Ant(phenanthrene/anthracene) vs. Fla/Pyr(fluoranthene/pyrene) could be effectively applied as the standard for the PAHs contamination criterion at the other Korean areas.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.21 no.11
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• pp.1599-1606
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• 2011

To evaluate the effects of microorganism agents on oil biodegradation, treatability and microcosm studies were conducted. Petroleum oil degrading bacteria were isolated from enriched cultures of oil-contaminated sediment samples using a mineral salts medium (MSM) containing 0.5% Arabian heavy crude oil as the sole carbon source. After a 5 day-incubation period using MSM, mixed microorganisms of three species (strains BS1, BS2 and BS4) degraded 48.4% of aliphatic hydrocarbons and 30.5% of aromatic hydrocarbons. Treatability and microcosm tests were performed in the three different treatment conditions (AO: Arabian heavy crude oil, AO+IN: Arabian heavy crude oil+inorganic nutrient, AO+IN+MM: Arabian heavy crude oil+inorganic nutrient+mixed microorganism agents). Among these, significantly enhanced biodegradation of aliphatic hydrocarbons were observed in AO+IN and AO+IN+MM conditions, without showing any different biodegradation rates in either condition. However, the degradation rates of aromatic hydrocarbons in an AO+IN+MM condition were increased by 50% in the treatability test and by 13% in the microcosm test compared to those in an AO+IN condition. Taken together, it can be concluded that mixed microorganism agents enhance the biodegradation of aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons in laboratory, a treatability test, and a microcosm test. This agent could especially be a useful tool in the application of bioremediation for removal of aromatic hydrocarbons.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.249-262
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• 2010

Regulatory test method for Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons (TPHs) in the marine sediment and biota has not still been established even though TPHs are one of the major pollutants in marine environment. Based on the Korean Soil Standard Method (SSM) for TPHs, we considered a new treatment method for determining TPHs in marine environmental samples by using a Gas chromatography coupled with Mass spectrometric detector. We suggested an improved recovery test for quality control procedures and introduced analytical procedures of removing sulfur, polar organic materials, water and saponification for removing neutral lipids in marine bottom sediments and biota.