Bio-fermentative Production of Xanthan Gum Biopolymer and Its Application in Petroleum Sector

Currently, industries and consumers are focusing on green products to reduce carbon footprints. Xanthan gum is a natural microbial polysaccharide known as gums or exopolysaccharides (EPS) which has excellent characteristics such as gel formation, thickening, emulsion stabilizing effect, salt tolerance, pH resistance, and stability to various enzymes makes this product industrially an important additive. The xanthan gum is a high molecular weight, pseudoplastic, and water-soluble heteropolysaccharide that consists of polymerized pentasaccharide. This biopolymer is a most important fermentation product widely used in the food, oil, petrochemical, agrochemical, and pharmaceutical industry. The quality of Xanthan gum is influenced by several factors such as type of Xanthomonas strain, batch variability, cultivation media, and downstream. Due to versatile rheological properties, xanthan gum is considered as a nonhazardous, environmental friendly product for the drilling of oil wells. The mixture of xanthan gum and other additives used as water-based drilling fluids in oil well application. This chapter discusses the fermentative production of xanthan gum, various factors affecting its biosynthesis, recovery, and its application in the drilling of oil wells.