Passive Degradation of Naphthenic Acids using a Biofilm Process

该项目的目标是通过促进NA降解细菌在嵌入塑料介质的工程二氧化硅结构上的生长来评估油砂工艺水中环烷酸（NAs）降解的原位生物修复处理。由Materium Inc.设计和生产的中空二氧化硅微球，将根据其在实验室规模下增加NA降解速率的能力进行评价。该项目的主要成果将是产生可操作的研究知识，Materium将使用这些知识来改进其产品并扩大其现有的客户群。该项目还将产生知识的被动环境修复NA污染水的新兴研究领域。更广泛地说，本研究的结果预计将有助于追求经济上可行的处理方案，可供公司用于油砂工艺水中急性毒性的主要来源的原位修复，并减少再生处理水中NAs引起的设备腐蚀。

The goal of this project is to evaluate an in-situ bioremediation treatment for the degradation of naphthenic acids (NAs) in oil sands process water by promoting the growth of NA-degrading bacteria on engineered silica structures embedded in plastic media. Hollow silica microspheres, engineered and produced by Materium Inc., will be evaluated in terms of their ability to increase the rate of NA degradation at the bench scale. The primary outcome of this project will be the generation of actionable research knowledge that Materium will use to refine their products and expand their current customer base. The project will also generate knowledge in the emerging research area of passive environmental remediation of NA contaminated water. More broadly, the results of this study are anticipated to contribute to the pursuit of economically viable treatment options available to companies for in-situ remediation of primary source of acute toxicity in oil sands process water, and reduce equipment corrosion caused by NAs in recycled processed water.