IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v15y2022i13p4525-d844090.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Emulating Deep-Sea Bioremediation: Oil Plume Degradation by Undisturbed Deep-Sea Microbial Communities Using a High-Pressure Sampling and Experimentation System

Author

Listed:
  • Eleftheria Antoniou

    (School of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Crete, 73100 Chania, Greece
    School of Mineral Resources Engineering, Technical University of Crete, 73100 Chania, Greece
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Efsevia Fragkou

    (School of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Crete, 73100 Chania, Greece
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Georgia Charalampous

    (School of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Crete, 73100 Chania, Greece)

  • Dimitris Marinakis

    (School of Mineral Resources Engineering, Technical University of Crete, 73100 Chania, Greece)

  • Nicolas Kalogerakis

    (School of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Crete, 73100 Chania, Greece
    Institute of GeoEnergy, Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas, 73100 Chania, Greece)

  • Evangelia Gontikaki

    (School of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Crete, 73100 Chania, Greece
    Institute of GeoEnergy, Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas, 73100 Chania, Greece)

Abstract

Hydrocarbon biodegradation rates in the deep-sea have been largely determined under atmospheric pressure, which may lead to non-representative results. In this work, we aim to study the response of deep-sea microbial communities of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea (EMS) to oil contamination at in situ environmental conditions and provide representative biodegradation rates. Seawater from a 600 to 1000 m depth was collected using a high-pressure (HP) sampling device equipped with a unidirectional check-valve, without depressurization upon retrieval. The sample was then passed into a HP-reactor via a piston pump without pressure disruption and used for a time-series oil biodegradation experiment at plume concentrations, with and without dispersant application, at 10 MPa and 14 °C. The experimental results demonstrated a high capacity of indigenous microbial communities in the deep EMS for alkane degradation regardless of dispersant application (>70%), while PAHs were highly degraded when oil was dispersed (>90%) and presented very low half-lives (19.4 to 2.2 days), compared to published data. To our knowledge, this is the first emulation study of deep-sea bioremediation using undisturbed deep-sea microbial communities.

Suggested Citation

  • Eleftheria Antoniou & Efsevia Fragkou & Georgia Charalampous & Dimitris Marinakis & Nicolas Kalogerakis & Evangelia Gontikaki, 2022. "Emulating Deep-Sea Bioremediation: Oil Plume Degradation by Undisturbed Deep-Sea Microbial Communities Using a High-Pressure Sampling and Experimentation System," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-16, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:15:y:2022:i:13:p:4525-:d:844090
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/13/4525/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/13/4525/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Georgia Charalampous & Efsevia Fragkou & Konstantinos A. Kormas & Alexandre B. De Menezes & Paraskevi N. Polymenakou & Nikos Pasadakis & Nicolas Kalogerakis & Eleftheria Antoniou & Evangelia Gontikaki, 2021. "Comparison of Hydrocarbon-Degrading Consortia from Surface and Deep Waters of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea: Characterization and Degradation Potential," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-18, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.

      Corrections

      All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:15:y:2022:i:13:p:4525-:d:844090. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

      If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

      If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

      If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

      For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

      Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

      IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.