US EPA

8743463 

Journal Article 

Biokinetics for the production of nitrogen from natural aquatic ecosystem polluted with crude oil 

Ukpaka, CP; Oboho, EO 

2006 

67 

1-2 

39-58 

English 

In this paper mathematical model was developed to predict the rate of nitrogen production in natural aquatic ecosystem polluted with crude oil. The rate of microbial growth or rate of the biodegradation process was predicted and explained by studying the kinetics of nitrogen produced from the process. The rate at which micro-organisms can degrade organic compounds is expressed mathematically to approximate the time required for remediation which is based on the observation that as the concentration of the organic compound increases, the rate of degradation increases and the rate of nitrogen produced also increase. All experiments were performed with cell grown and degradation rate under solar energy and thus, a view of an aquatic ecosystem which highlights interactions between difficult segments of this community being contaminated with crude oil. The investigation was conducted in a batch reactor polluted with crude oil, with physical properties of surface tension (0.715Nm-1), viscosity (104.2gs-2) and density (0.840gcm-3) were used during the investigation. Degradation rate of crude oil was often directly correlated to the nitrogen concentration present in the batch reactor, but concentration of nitrogen, and microorganism on the batch reactor also controlled biodegradation process. Results from model studies using pseudomonas species demonstrated that microorganism may have an important role in the production of nitrogen. This research demonstrates the usefulness of Monod's equation for the determination of specific rate, maximum specific rate and equilibrium constants of nitrogen during biodegradation of petroleum hydrocarbon in a natural aquatic ecosystem polluted with crude oil. 

Biokinetics; Crude oil; Nitrogen natural aquatic ecosystem polluted; Production