Microbial treatment of waxy crude oil for mitigating wax precipitation and improving liquidity

AbstractThe wax deposition of crude oil during transportation reduces the inner diameter, blocks the pipeline, and eventually increases the cost of petroleum production. This study reports a paraffin-degrading bacterial strain DG2 isolated from petroleum-contaminated soil. The effect of this strain on the removal of paraffin in crude oil was investigated. DG2, identified as Pseudomonas, produced biosurfactant that reduced the surface tension to 35.7 mN/m−1 and exhibited high emulsification activity. Results of gas chromatography–mass spectrometry analysis of the waxy crude oil treated by DG2 showed decreased heavy hydrocarbon fractions (C25 and C32). The degradation test revealed that DG2 reduced the wax appearance temperature by 4.16 °C and the viscosity by 23% of the waxy crude oil. These findings indicate that paraffin-degradation strain DG2 may be used for effective paraffin biodegradation.