BIODEGRADATION OF SLOP OIL FROM A PETROCHEMICAL INDUSTRY AND BIORECLAMATION OF SLOP OIL CONTAMINATED SOIL

Slop oil, i.e. waste oil from a petrochemical complex, contains at least 240 hydrocarbon components, of which 54% are from C-5 to C-11 and the rest from C-12 to C-23. Of 22 isolated bacterial cultures that were able to degrade slop oil, seven could each degrade about 40% of the slop oil, and a mixture of all seven could degrade less than or equal to 50% in liquid medium. Bioaugmentation of soil contaminated with slop oil with the mixed bacterial culture gave up to 70% degradation of slop oil after 30 days. This compares with 40% degradation without bioaugmentation. Bioaugmentation led to a significant increase in counts of bacteria able to degrade slop oil. Wheat sown on bioaugmented soil germinated and grew better than on non-augmented soil and led to increased degradation of slop oil (up to 80%). This indicates the potential of mixed culture for bioremediation.