Enhanced remediation of water, soils and wastes using biosurfactants

生物表面活性剂因其可生物降解性、低毒性以及对低溶解度化合物的生物降解性和增溶作用而在环境工业中具有广阔的应用前景。在加强生物修复、冲洗和清洗被碳氢化合物和/或金属污染的土壤和水方面进行了各种试验。较新的应用与纳米技术等补救技术的增强有关。其他工业应用将被调查，例如与石油行业相关的应用。例如，管理来自油砂的细粒尾矿是一个重大挑战。尾矿的致密化可能需要一个世纪的时间。用这些生物降解剂加速细粒尾矿的沉积，可以提高水的回用和池塘的复垦。此外，为了提高该工艺的经济性，将对生物表面活性剂的原位生产进行研究和优化。石油泄漏被认为是迄今为止最具挑战性的环境问题之一。由于自然清理过程非常缓慢，已经采用了许多清理技术，包括机械、生物和化学处理，以控制和最大限度地减少泄漏对环境的负面影响。生物表面活性剂苦参脂胞外添加(一类新的生物表面活性剂)在石油污染海水的分散和生物降解方面的潜在应用将被研究。此外，为了提高该工艺的经济性，还将研究和优化生物表面活性剂的原位生产，以适应这一应用。生物表面活性剂也被用于去除土壤和沉积物中的重金属。这项工作将继续评估鼠李糖脂用于去除和还原六价铬和另一种阴离子污染物，即采矿残渣中的砷。此外，先前已确定表面活性剂可以以泡沫的形式引入。这提高了表面活性剂在固体中的流动性。还在评估纳米材料在受污染的固体介质中提取或稳定金属的作用。因此，将对泡沫注射与纳米材料(金属氧化物)相结合进行评估，以确保纳米材料在土壤基质中的稳定性和方便的移动性。这项研究的目标包括：评价生物表面活性剂对油砂尾矿沉积的影响，评价对溢油扩散的影响，以及评价生物表面活性剂对纳米颗粒应用的影响。这些方法将有助于更好地理解生物表面活性剂的应用，以生态友好的方式修复和保护环境。

Biosurfactant applications in the environmental industries are promising due to their biodegradability, low toxicity and effectiveness in enhancing biodegradation and solubilization of low solubility compounds. A variety of tests have been performed with regards to enhanced bioremediation, flushing and washing of soils and water contaminated with hydrocarbons and/or metals. Newer applications are related to enhancement of remediation techniques such as nanotechnology. Other industrial applications will be investigated such as related to the oil industry. For example, management of fine tailings from the oil sands is a major challenge. Densification of the tailings may take a century. Accelerating the fine tails sedimentation with these biodegradable agents could improve water reuse and pond reclamation. In addition, in an effort to enhance the economics of the process, in situ production of the biosurfactants will be studied and optimized. Oil spills have been considered to be one of the most challenging environmental issues to date. As natural cleanup processes are very slow, a number of cleanup techniques including mechanical, biological, and chemical based treatments have been practiced to control and minimize the negative impact of spills on the environment. The potential application of extracellular addition of biosurfactant sophorolipid (a new class of biosurfactants) on dispersion and biodegradation of oil-contaminated seawater will be investigated. In addition, in an effort to enhance the economics of the process, in situ production of the biosurfactants will be studied and optimized for this application also. Biosurfactants have also been used to remove heavy metals from soil and sediments. This work will be continued to evaluate the use of rhamnolipid for the removal and reduction of hexavalent chromium and another anionic contaminant, arsenic from mining residues by rhamnolipids. In addition it has been previously determined that the surfactants can be introduced in the form of foams. This enhanced the mobility of the surfactants through the soid. Nanomaterials are also being evaluated for the extraction or stabilization of metals within the contaminated solid media. Therefore a combination of foam injection with nanomaterials (metal oxides) will be evaluated to ensure the stability and facility mobility of the nanomaterials within the soil matrix. The objectives of the research will include: Evaluation of the effect of biosurfactants on oil sand tailings sedimentation, evaluation of the effect on oil spill dispersion, and evaluation of the effect of biosurfactants on nanoparticle applications. These approaches will lead to a better understanding of the applications of biosurfactants to remediate and protect the environment in an ecofriendly manner.