Biosurfactants as Agents of Marine Oil Spill Response in the North: Production, Mechanism, Effectiveness and Impact

海洋石油泄漏可能会对环境造成有害和长期的不利影响。由于北冰洋和北大西洋的石油和天然气开发兴趣和活动日益增加，人们普遍认识到的重大挑战是，意外漏油的风险日益增加，迫切需要新的或改进的、适用于寒冷海洋环境的生态友好型应对技术。由于对脆弱的海洋生态系统、对当地(土著)社区的长期影响以及严峻的技术和后勤挑战的强烈关切，大多数传统的溢油应对方法在这种环境中变得有问题。因此，对冷海水中海洋溢油反应的知识和开创性技术的改进是迫切需要的，具有潜在的重大科学和实用价值。*为了帮助应对挑战，这项拟议研究计划的短期目标是：a)开发新的方法，通过探索生物表面活性剂生物分散剂的生产、机理、有效性和影响，全面调查和开发生物表面活性剂生物分散剂，作为北方海洋溢油反应的试剂，以及b)积累专业知识并培训该领域的高素质人员(HQP)。长期目标是a)将申请者目前的研究和培训计划发展成为海洋漏油反应方面的世界领先团队，以及b)推进科学基础并产生新的工程解决方案，以满足提高在寒冷海洋中漏油和应对的知识和能力的长期迫切需求。为了实现这些目标，主要任务包括1)生产生物表面活性剂的杂化化合物，2)促进生物表面活性剂的生产，3)生物分散剂的形成和性能/命运评估，4)生物分散剂的波槽检验，5)生物分散后的海洋溢油的生物降解，6)协同效应对生物分散油生物降解的影响，以及7)生物分散油生物降解过程中微生物活动的评估。*拟议的研究计划和预期结果将是加拿大的第一个此类研究项目，开发生物表面活性剂辅助的生态友好型海洋溢油反应在寒冷的海洋环境中。它将改善环境和生物工程知识，并在加拿大北部和更远的地方为海洋保护提供新的实验方法。还将创造和推进独特的多学科环境，为研究人员提供HQP培训和合作研究机会。这项研究旨在通过提供生态友好和强有力的方法，提高他们的应对能力，并直接支持加拿大新的海洋保护计划，为加拿大工业、政府和北部/土著社区带来重大的短期和长期利益。

Marine oil spills can lead to harmful and long-term adverse impact on the environment. Due to the growing interest and activities in oil and gas development in the Arctic and Northern Atlantic oceans, significant challenges that have been widely recognized are the increasing risk of accidental oil spills and the pressing need for new or improved eco-friendly response technologies suitable for cold marine environments. Most of the traditional spill response methods become problematic in such environments due to the strong concerns on the fragile marine ecosystems, the long-term impact on local (aboriginal) communities, as well as the severe technical and logistical challenges. Thus, improved knowledge and pioneering technologies for marine oil spill response in cold seawaters are much desired with potentially significant scientific and practical values. *** To help address the challenges, the short-term goals of this proposed research program are: a) to develop new approaches to comprehensively investigate and develop biosurfactant-based bio-dispersants as agents for marine oil spill response in the north by exploring their production, mechanisms, effectiveness and impacts, and b) to build expertise and train highly qualified personnel (HQP) in the field. The long-term goals are a) to grow the applicant's current research and training program into a world-leading group in marine oil spill response, and b) to advance the scientific base and generate new engineering solutions to address the long-term pressing needs of improving the knowledge and capability in oil spills and responses in cold oceans. To achieve the these goals, the key tasks include 1) generation of biosurfactant producing hybrids, 2) enhancement of biosurfactant production, 3) formation of bio-dispersants and performance/fate evaluation, 4) wave tank examination of bio-dispersants, 5) biodegradation of marine spilled oil after bio-dispersion, 6) impact of synergistic effects on bio-dispersed oil biodegradation, and 7) evaluation of microbial activities during bio-dispersed oil biodegradation.*** The proposed research program and the expected outcomes will be the first of its kind in Canada by developing biosurfactant aided eco-friendly marine oil spill responses in cold ocean environments. It will lead to improved environmental and biological engineering knowledge and novel experimental methodologies for ocean protection within northern Canada and beyond. Unique multi-disciplinary environments will also be created and advanced for HQP training and collaborative research opportunities for researchers. The research aims to bring significant short- and long-term benefits to Canadian industry, government and northern/aboriginal communities by providing eco-friendly and robust approaches, improving their response capabilities, and directly supporting Canada's new Ocean Protection Plan.