Overcoming oil pollution
Researchers from the Yodi Ilyas Institute of Technology from the Water and Waste Water Engineering Expertise Group, Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering ITB, found innovations to protect the environment. This innovation created can help restore the condition of the land polluted by waste oil.
Seeing this problem, both of them also offer bioremediation technology as a solution to the problem. Bioremediation is a process of restoration (Bioremediation of Crude Oil Polluted Soil) of land polluted by organic and inorganic waste by utilizing organisms. This bioremediation technology uses nonpatogenic microbes consisting of Pseudomonas sp Bacillus sp, Azetobacter sp.
Research departs from the background of oil pollution in the environment which has become a threat to the ecosystem and humans.
Because in the waste oil there are organic aliphatic and aromatic molecules known as petroleum hydrocarbons or Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons (TPH). TPH contamination in the environment is of more concern because these compounds are contaminants that can be widespread and some are toxic, mutagenic, and even carcinogenic.
"The bacterium acts as a degrading agent for hydrocarbon compounds with the ability of its enzyme metabolism that can act as a biocatalyst so that it can be applied for the restoration of land contaminated with petroleum waste. Bioremediation is considered relatively cheaper, effective, and environmentally friendly compared to other petroleum remediation technologies, "said Edwan in a press release received ...
He said the estimated amount of petroleum waste was 12 thousand tons per day. Therefore this bioremediation technology is important to overcome these problems. This research began in 2000 at the Bioscience Research Center.
The test was carried out by taking a number of bacterial samples on oil-contaminated land in Kalimantan and Sumatra to then be isolated and selected bacterial candidates that were effective in degrading or breaking hydrocarbon chains.
According to him, this bioremedation technology was then commercialized under the name Petroleum Remediating Agent on the advice of one of the students. The process of making Petrea if needed from the start only takes about 2 months for enrichment (from isolates or seeds that are already available) until it is ready to harvest for about 2-3 weeks, until it becomes a product in the form of both pasta and pellets (granular)
This petrea is a colony of bacteria that degrade hydrocarbon compounds which are then sold and marketed in the form of pastes and pellets through Research and Industrial Affiliation Institutions and have been used by several oil and gas companies in Indonesia.
"One kilogram of Petrea is capable of recovering one ton of oil-contaminated land.
This is certainly more effective and cheaper than other oil-contaminated land remediation technologies. Petrea can also be used for puddles of oil that are created due to operational activities of other industries that use petroleum or in the area of workshops that are polluted with used oil, "he said.
Petrea itself has limitations in degrading petroleum with a long and thick hydrocarbon chain, therefore, together with his guidance students he is developing another remediation technology namely biosurfactants from the Acinetobacter group.
This biosurfactant is an active compound consisting of hydrophilic and hydrophobic groups which has the ability to reduce the surface tension of a liquid and the tension between two different phases and increase the stability of the emulsion.
"By lowering this surface tension, petroleum waste can dissolve in biosurfactants, which Petrea then adds to degrade the waste," he said.
This hybrid technology, which is a combination of biosurfactants and Petrea, has a more optimal performance to restore oil-contaminated land, especially those with long hydrocarbon chains. However, this technology is still being carried out on a lab scale but it hasn't yet been commercialized because it still requires development.