Microbiological Strategies for Sustainable Production of Bioactive Compounds Using Oil Produced Water Effluent with Sucrose and Crude Glycerine as Carbon Sources

Abstract

Biopolymers and biosurfactants are bioactive compounds of great commercial interest. They are used for changing fluids viscosity and emulsifying properties of several types of solutions, characteristics necessary for the performance of enhanced oil recovery (EOR) strategies applied at distinct rock formations. The present work evaluated the production of Enterobacter amnigenus exopolysaccharide (EPS) of the strain grown alone or in consortium with Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Culturing was carried out using produced water amended with a mixture of crude glycerin and sucrose as carbon sources. E. amnigenus exopolysaccharide production was low when grown on pure culture, on the other hand, in the presence of P. aeruginosa, the amount of EPSwas of 14.74 gL^-1. The produced biopolymer and biosurfactant exhibited excellent viscosity and emulsifyingactivity characteristics for the application in EOR strategies, and better pseudoplastic rheological behavior (was detected) than conventional chemicals used for this purpose. Statistical analysis showed that EPS production was influenced by the interaction between sucrose and glycerin amendments. Infrared absorption spectroscopy showed similar molecular structure to the E. amnigenus FucoPoL. This research shows that a recovering oil fluid can be prepared using produced water as main medium, contributing for reducing costs and increasing environmental gains.