BIODEGRADATION OF POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS (PAH) FROM PAIKO OIL DEPOT USING A MIXED CULTURE OF BACTERIA

Abstract

Petroleum development and production have resulted in soil degradation, the generation of air and water pollutants, solid and hazardous wastes. In this study, the degradation potential of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) was investigated using a consortia of mixed bacterial culture. Phenanthrene, a three- ringed angular PAH, known to be a human skin photosensitizer and mild allergen was used as a representative of PAH to study the degradation efficiency of a mixed culture of bacteria and fungi. Microorganisms were isolated from hydrocarbon contaminated soils of Pipeline Product Marketing Company Paiko depot, Niger State. The degradation experiments were conducted in liquid cultures. The initial phenanthrene concentration was 60 mg/l at the beginning of degradation experiments. After fifteen days incubation, the mixed culture was capable of degrading about 17% of the phenanthrene with a bacterial population of about 1 XIOS CFU/g. The mixed culture achieved a 100% degradation of the phenanthrene after 34 days. The Lineweaver-Burk plot was used to observe the correlation between the rate of degradation (V J and the concentration of (he substrate (IS]). The value of Michealis constant (Ku) was determined to be zero mg/l.