Santimoy B Banerjee

US Patent:

50136542, May 7, 1991

Filed:

Mar 5, 1990

Appl. No.:

7/490548

Inventors:

Santimoy Banerjee - Chicago IL
Jeffrey S. Karns - Greenbelt MD
Ananda M. Chakrabarty - Villa Park IL

Assignee:

The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois - Urbana IL

International Classification:

C12P 1900
C12N 120

US Classification:

435 72

Abstract:

A novel strain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, designated as strain SB-1, is capable of growth on hydrocarbon substrates having 10 to 32 or more carbon atoms, during which growth there is secreted into the culture medium an emulsifier which can be recovered and used for such applications as reducing the viscosity of crude oil in secondary recovery methods, as well as in oil spill management and the cleaning of oil-contaminated vessels and pipelines. A novel mutant strain of P. aeruginosa SB-1, designated SB-3, has the property of growing on solid (C. sub. 20 +) paraffins but not on liquid alkanes. The selective degradation by strain SB-3 of the solid paraffinic components in crude oil is advantageous in reducing the viscosity of the oil for improving the recovery thereof from oil wells. A novel revertant strain of P. aeruginosa SB-3, designated SB-30, grows both on liquid and solid hydrocarbon substrates, but produces greater amounts of emulsifier than are produced by SB-1 when grown on other relatively inexpensive sources of carbon, such as corn oil or chicken fat.