This research investigated the use of produced water (PW) and raw glycerine, waste products from the oil and biodiesel industry, respectively, as a growth medium and source of nutrients in a bioprocess employing Xanthomonas and Pseudomonas strains, in order to simultaneously produce xanthan gum and rhamnolipids, products already used in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) applications. The xanthan gum and rhamnolipid produced exhibited excellent viscosity and emulsifying activity characteristics, and better pseudoplasic rheological behaviour than conventional chemical EOR compounds. EOR benefits of incremental oil production, coupled with the use of waste products to produce the compounds employed, minimize the environmental impact of EOR methods employing such compounds.
