Sarva Bio Remed, LLC A Clean Solution To Industrial Oil Pollution

Transcription

1 Sarva Bio Remed, LLC A Clean Solution To Industrial Oil Pollution Biodispersion Technology for Treatment of Floating Oil A White Paper Contact Information Satya Ganti President & CEO Sarva Bio Remed,llc 36 South Broad Street Trenton, NJ Tel: /877-71SARVA ( ) Fax: Website: Page 1 of 10

2 Summary This report introduces application of biodispersion technology, a novel biotechnological solution for the treatment of waste oil. The technology is unique in that it employs an oleophilic liquid matrix containing both nutrients and a consortium of hydrocarbon-eating bacteria selectively enriched to rapidly disperse waste oil and finally convert it to non-toxic, environmentally-friendly end-products namely water and carbon dioxide in a matter of few days. Products based on biodispersion technology include both marine (salt water) and fresh water formulation in a ready to-use as onetime application, thereby reducing operator time, and have been successfully tested under various situations on land based and ship board application. The paper presents case studies on Biodispersion formulations along with some pictures. We further describe the problem of onboard waste oil treatment on ships and tankers and the applicability of biodispersion-based products in marine operations. Introduction According to a United Nations Environment Program survey of 1997, more than 30,000 metric tons of oil is released in the oceans every year and increasing awareness of the deleterious effects of oil pollution have increased cost for oil disposal. Further, of the global transport of multi-billion barrels of oil per annum, approximately between 0.05% and.09 % finds its way into pollution treatment stream. This works out to about a million barrels of waste oil or about 150,000 metric tons of oil that needs to be disposed of at various ports. Biodispersion technology offers products that are environment-friendly and reduce the cost of disposing oil without leaving any residue. Biodispersion is a process that employs an oleophilic liquid matrix containing both nutrients and a consortium of hydrocarboneating bacteria selectively enriched to rapidly disperse waste oil and fully convert it to non-toxic, environmentally-friendly end-products, water and carbon dioxide in a matter of days. Products based on biodispersion technology satisfy the following properties essential to such products should: be available in a Ready-To-Use (RTU) form be environmentally safe be fast acting and remediation should take place in days. not disturb the existing ecosystem. not require supplementary addition of nutrients require little or no human intervention not contain any genetically modified bacteria Page 2 of 10

3 Sarva Bio Remed LLC, manufactures proprietary products based on patented biodispersion technology (US Patent No: 6,267,888). The following products are available off-the-shelf for industrial applications: VaporRemed SpillRemed (Marine) SpillRemed (Freshwater) BilgeRemed AgroRemed HydroRemed VegRemed Technology Oil is insoluble in water and hence consumption of oil by bacteria does not take place in a normal way. There are four stages of microbial utilization of oil and these are Dispersion A physical process by which oil is broken down into smaller globules Solubilization A biochemical process wherein the same dispersed molecules are transformed into assimilable form Assimilation A metabolic process where in the assimilated molecules are transformed into glucose Mineralization Final stage where oil is finally broken down into carbon dioxide and water Biodispersion thus is a biological process that promotes dispersion of oil and forms an important phase in bioremediation of oil at source. In order to achieve an effective biodispersion we developed a medium that is oleophilic and supports growth of oil-eating bacteria. It is important that the bacteria are in a physiologically active state so that the effect of the activity of bacteria starts from day zero. The oleophilic nature of the medium ensures that the bacteria are not lost in the vast mass of water. Bacteria remain actively attached to oil globules and continue breakdown of oil even after dispersion. The properties and advantages of biodispersion are: The bacteria are aerobic since the entire process of utilization of oil is achieved through oxidation. The bacteria are maintained in an Oleophilic Suspension of Physiologically Active Bacteria Culture (OSPABC) and hence are not lost in the water. Action of bacteria is almost instantaneous Does not require any additional nutrients for their growth and multiplication. Bacteria act on oil at the source No residue for disposal and not harmful to metals and other materials Page 3 of 10

4 Case Studies 1. Elimination of fumes after a spill A Sheet metal contractor in Ohio had a 200 gallon spill of heating oil in the residence during installation of a furnace. The spill was mopped and an environment company was asked to cleanup the site free from oil and fumes. Fumes persisted even after almost 11 cubic yards of soil was excavated from the spilled the area. Furthermore, the home owner experienced health problems and had to be relocated to a hotel during the cleanup. VaporRemed was treated on all the exposed areas of the house including furniture, carpets, cement ducting and the excavated pit. In less than 12 hours the fumes were eliminated and allowing the home owner to return to her home. The soil showed a value of Total Petroleum Hydrocarbon (TPH) of 10 ppm before the basement was sealed. There have been no complaints from the homeowner after treating the basement with VaporRemed. Excavated pit treated with VaporRemed New furnaces reinstalled and the basement sealed. Page 4 of 10

5 Mitigation of fumes and indoor air quality In a Virginia residence, basement was sealed after the cleanup of a heating oil spill. However, the fumes continued to emanate from below the concrete surface and since the homeowner did not want another cleanup protocol insisted in treating the basement without disturbing the structure. The environment company sprayed VaporRemed on the floor and monitored the indoor air samples. The graph shown below shows the values of different constituent of VOCs before and after application with VaporRemed. All the constituents were below the detectable levels. Analysis of Air Samples after Treatment With VaporRemed Values in ug/cu.m Benzene Toluene Ethyl Benzene Total xylenes n-hexane n-nonane Naphthalene Hydrocarbon constituents Pre-treatment (Basement) Post-Treatment (16 days) Post Treatment (45 days) Pre-treatment (Upstairs) Post Treatment (16 days) Post_Treatment (45 days) Shipboard trials with BilgeRemed BilgeRemed has been found to be effective in reducing the oil content in the oily bilge water tanks on board ships. Two ships were selected for the same. One ship was a reduced operation ship that was berthed at the harbor with minimum activity and another ship was an active ocean going vessel. In both the cases the experimental protocol was addition of 5 gallons of BilgeRemed every week and monitoring the values of TPH and bacterial count after each sampling. The results showed that the bacterial population in the bilge water increased in the first three weeks and then there was a drop in the population. This was correlated with the TPH values and it was found that when the TPH value was low the count of bacteria were also low. In both the trials the lowest TPH value recorded was 5 and 5.3 ppm. Page 5 of 10

6 Advantages of BilgeRemed are listed below: Effective bioremediation agent acting on oil at source Reduces TPH of the oily bilge water Easy to apply Reduces load on the oil water separators Reduces the residual oily sludge content Real time savings to the ships Uranium contaminated oil Fifteen gallons of weathered oil contaminated with Uranium was treated with 1.5 gallons of SpillRemed (Freshwater), our biodispersion formulation in about 465 gallons of fresh water and the reduction after 30 days. In the picture shown below one can see the development of froth due to the biodispersive activity of the treatment. At the end of the 30-day period of observation there was a 1000 fold increase in bacterial population and the final TPH content was 384 ppm. Remediation of cutting fluid Ten milliliters of SpillRemed biodispersion formulation was used to treat 100 milliliters of cutting fluid in a manufacturing shop. The values of fuel oil component and lube oil component were measured weekly as shown in following Table. Page 6 of 10

7 Values of TPH recorded during remediation studies Day Fuel oil TPH %TPH reduction(fuel oil) Lube oil %TPH reduction(lube oil) Linear Slope Y Intercept r(square) 85% 90% Analysis and discussion of the Results Graph shown below is reconstructed for the reduction in both fuel oil and lube oil content in cutting fluid based on the data given in the above table Fuel oil Lube oil Page 7 of 10

8 Examination of the graph indicates that the process of TPH reduction over the course of the treatment period has a log-linear slope. One possible interpretation of these findings is that the underlying mechanism responsible for the reduction of TPH content is strongly correlated with the known exponential doubling rate of the oil-eating bacteria added at the start of the treatment, as an approximate two-fold decrease per unit time in TPH reduction was derived from the slopes of the above data. Remediation of contained open water spill SpillRemed (Fresh water) was employed for treating an oil spill in a mine in Canada, which was contained in a lined and bermed storage area. The Kemess Mines is located in the mountainous region of Rocky Mountain in British Columbia and extracts noble metals. The company employed the standard procedure of deploying oil absorbent booms in the berm for clean up. However, the booms absorbed water and sank to the bottom of the berm releasing the absorbed oil. Untreated oil spill The atmospheric temperature was less than 0 C and the conditions did not look promising for any type of bioremediation. Nevertheless, next day there was a noticeable reduction of thinning of the film. There were two more applications of SpillRemed and after 6 weeks the water became completely clear and was safely discharged into the waste stream. Photographs shown above give the idea of the magnitude of the problem and the one below show simplicity of our solution before discharge. Page 8 of 10

9 Clear water after complete remediation. Remediation of bilge water in a fiber glass boat Studies were carried out on a fiber glass boat undergoing refit along dockside in a marina in West Palm Beach, Florida. The fiberglass composite vessel had a high solid epoxy finish applied to the bilge space in the engine room. The bilge slop was a mixture of salt and fresh water contaminated with diesel blow-by, lubricating oil and hydraulic oils. Some of the lubricant had globulized and a heavy sheen was evident. One gallon of BilgeRemed was added to the standing bilge water in the ratio of 1:10 and the mixture underwent bio-remediation. Periodic observations indicated an advancing form of remedial activity and at the end of 14 days the water was completely clear of any waste oil. There was no sheen and the water was in a state for release in the open water. The results indicated that if there is no toxicity in the bilge water, biodispersion technology is an effective on-site remediation of a complex mixture of oils in the bilge water, without the need of any aeration or additional supplementary nutrients. Application of biodispersion in oil tankers Another important area of application for biodispersion is treating clingage in oil tankers. Oil tankers collect a fraction of oil transported in the form of clingage, close to.3% to.5% of the tanker capacity. Applying a combination of pollution prevention technologies; SBT (segregated ballast tanks) and COW (crude oil washing), the amount of oil that effectively needs to get treated is close to.05% of tanker capacity. These values range between tons depending on the tanker capacity. Page 9 of 10

10 Currently tanker-operators depend on port-receiving facilities for discharging waste-oil depend and generally involves a lost opportunity time and the cost of handling this waste (costs are compounded during bad weather). In contrast, biodispersion could be used during the return voyages to reduce the oil content significantly thereby reducing the overall cost of handling the waste oil. Concluding remarks The paper outlines the problem of treating oily waste, presents the desired characteristics of an effective solution, presents an effective solution and results of case studies in marine and fresh water applications. Furthermore, we present the application of Biodispersion for onboard treatment. We believe that demonstrated time frame of effective bioremediation of 4-5 days is a good fit with the average time for medium and long term voyages. It may be possible for the enduser to store the waste in simple holding tanks without the need for any sludge holding tank. Additional reading Intentional Oil Pollution at Sea, Ronald Mitchell, The MIT Press, Cambridge Mass.,1994: Although the book is more concerned with international law and its compliance, the problem of oil pollution by tankers is presented with lucid examples and provides the reader with a good understanding of the scale of the problem. UN Environment Programme 1990: Quantitative information on the size of global oil pollution. About us Sarva Bio Remed is a leading environment biotechnology company established in 1997 with the mission to provide innovative solutions to treating oil pollution in a variety of situations. For more information about our company and technology, please visit Contact Information Satya Ganti President & CEO Sarva Bio Remed,llc 36 South Broad Street Trenton, NJ Tel: /877-71SARVA ( ) Fax: Website: Page 10 of 10