Remediation of oily sludge wastes using biosurfactant produced by bacterial isolate .

Biological treatment of oily sludge wastes was studied using an isolated halo-tolerant strain . An oily sludge sample was obtained from oil fields of south waste of Iran and was fully characterized. The initial TPH content was 44,500 mg kg. The ability of in production of biosurfactant was investigated using oil displacement method. Results demonstrated that isolated strain is a biosurfactant producing bacteria. The CMC and emulsification index [E] of produced biosurfactant were 90 mg L and 44% for crude oil. Effect of operational parameters including nitrogen source, sludge/water ratio and temperature were investigated against the time. The most TPH removal of 35% was observed for nitrogen source of NHCl, sludge/ water ratio of 1:7 and temperature of 40 °C.