THE POTENTIAL OF THREE INDIGENOUS ISOLATED BACTERIA FOR PRODUCTION OF BIOSURFACTANT AND APPLICATION IN EOR

摘要: In this work, biosurfactant production by Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Bacillus cereus has been compared. These microorganisms have been isolated from agriculture and oil polluted zones in the south of Iran. Studies on the growth and biosurfactant appearance in the culture of these bacteria showed that the biosurfactant production is a growth-associated phenomenon. Maximum biosurfactant production reached to about 1.8 g/l and liquid surface tension decreased from 72 to 25 mN/m with Bacillus subtilis. The yield of biosurfactant production on biomass Yp/x (g biosurfactant/g biomass) and the production yield Yp/s (g biosurfactant/g sucrose) and overall production rate (mg/lh) were 0.45, 0.18, 30, respectively which that were better than the other strains. Results demonstrated that biosurfactants of these three microorganisms are suitable for application in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) with a priority toward biosurfactant of Bacillus subtilis.