Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons Degrading Microflora in a Tropical Oil-Production Well

The surrounding environment near Dagang oil-production well suffers polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) pollution. In the present study, indigenous microorganisms capable of degrading PAHs were isolated and the efficiency of PAHs removal was investigated. Seven PAH-degrading strains were isolated with the ability to grow on naphthalene, phenanthrene, pyrene and fluorene. They belonged to the genus Pseudomonas, Bacillus and Rhodococcus. The strain having the highest degrading capacity for each PAH was selected by the screening test. The removal efficiency of PAHs was found to be in the order of naphthalene > fluorene > phenanthrene > pyrene. The kinetics of PAHs degradation was then followed by liquid chromatography determination and the results showed it conforms to a first-order reaction kinetic model. This study would be highly important for investigating the ability of microorganisms to utilize PAHs as growth substrates.