title: Treatment of a mud pit by bioremediation.
abstract: The mud generated from oil and natural gas drilling, presents a considerable ecological problem. There are still insufficient remedies for the removal and minimization of these very stable emulsions. Existing technologies that are in use, more or less successfully, treat about 20% of generated waste drilling mud, while the rest is temporarily deposited in so-called mud pits. This study investigated in situ bioremediation of a mud pit. The bioremediation technology used in this case was based on the use of naturally occurring microorganisms, isolated from the contaminated site, which were capable of using the contaminating substances as nutrients. The bioremediation was stimulated through repeated inoculation with a zymogenous microbial consortium, along with mixing, watering and biostimulation. Application of these bioremediation techniques reduced the concentration of total petroleum hydrocarbons from 32.2 to 1.5 g kg(-1) (95% degradation) during six months of treatment.
authors.affiliation: University of Belgrade, Institute for Chemistry, Technology and Metallurgy, Serbia javdalovic@chem.bg.ac.rs.
authors.forename: Jelena
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Avdalović
authors.affiliation: University of Belgrade, Faculty of Chemistry, Serbia.
authors.forename: Aleksandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Đurić
authors.affiliation: University of Belgrade, Institute for Chemistry, Technology and Metallurgy, Serbia.
authors.forename: Srdjan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Miletić
authors.affiliation: University of Belgrade, Institute for Chemistry, Technology and Metallurgy, Serbia.
authors.forename: Mila
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ilić
authors.affiliation: University of Belgrade, Institute for Chemistry, Technology and Metallurgy, Serbia.
authors.forename: Jelena
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Milić
authors.affiliation: University of Belgrade, Faculty of Chemistry, Serbia.
authors.forename: Miroslav M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Vrvić
mesh_terms: D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D002849:Chromatography, Gas; D010578:Petroleum
chemical_list: D010578:Petroleum
keywords: Mud pit; bioremediation; microorganisms; total petroleum hydrocarbons; treatment