a crude biosurfactant mixture was produced in a 1.4 l tubular reactor by a mixed culture; afterthe thermal treatment of the whole culture an increase in emulsification activity and surface tension wasobserved, with a main effect on the first one. the emulsification index of the mixture obtained was of 60.4 %. the crude mixed biosurfactant was used to enhance hydrocarbon biodegradation of intemp...

Due to the large contribution of the coldstart process to unburned hydrocarbon emissions of an internal combustion engine during FTP cycle tests, we take a new look at the production of hydrocarbons inside the combustion chamber during coldstart. To this end a model is developed which predicts the exhaust port hydrocarbon concentration, exhaust gas temperature and equivalence ratio based on a s...

Literature on hydrocarbon degradation in extreme hypersaline media presents studies that point to a negative effect of salinity increase on hydrocarbonoclastic activity, while several others report an opposite tendency. Based on information available in the literature, we present a discussion on the reasons that justify these contrary results. Despite the fact that microbial ability to metaboli...

Hazards caused by leakage of hydrocarbons have long been a problem. In this paper, the critical initiation energy and explosion limits of some hydrocarbon-air mixtures have been measured in confined (rectangle shock tube) and unconfined (plastic bag) condition tests. Two dimensionless parameters are suggested to compare the fire and explosion hazards of different hydrocarbons. Additionally, a s...

We have used spin labels and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) to study the correlation between the rotational dynamics of protein and lipid in sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) membranes. A short-chain maleimide spin label was used to monitor the submillisecond rotational mobility of the Ca-ATPase enzyme (using saturation transfer EPR); a free fatty acid spin label was used to monitor the submic...

Bioremediation of hydrocarbon pollutants is advantageous owing to the cost-effectiveness of the technology and the ubiquity of hydrocarbon-degrading microorganisms in the soil. Soil microbial diversity is affected by hydrocarbon perturbation, thus selective enrichment of hydrocarbon utilizers occurs. Hydrocarbons interact with the soil matrix and soil microorganisms determining the fate of the ...

BACKGROUND Hydrocarbon-induced occupational liver injury is a well-known clinical entity among petroleum industry workers. There are many types of hydrocarbon exposure, with inhalation being the most common. Hydrocarbon-induced occupational liver injury is a rarely suspected and commonly missed etiological agent for liver injury. We report a case of a non-petroleum industry worker with chronic ...

Marine hydrocarbon seepage emits oil and gas, including methane ( approximately 30 Tg of CH(4) per year), to the ocean and atmosphere. Sediments from the California margin contain preserved tar, primarily formed through hydrocarbon weathering at the sea surface. We present a record of variation in the abundance of tar in sediments for the past 32,000 years, providing evidence for increases in h...

Here we introduce a MIxS extension to facilitate the recording and cataloguing of metadata from samples related to hydrocarbon resources. The proposed MIxS-HCR package incorporates the core features of the MIxS standard for marker gene (MIMARKS) and metagenomic (MIMS) sequences along with a hydrocarbon resources customized environmental package. Adoption of the MIxS-HCR standard will enable the...

BACKGROUND Patents have been granted for a number of techniques for petroleum biodegradation including use of micro-organisms for degradation of hydrocarbon-based substances and for hydrocarbon degradation in oil reservoirs, but there is a dearth of information on hydrocarbon degradation in different soil textures. OBJECTIVE Hence, this work investigated the effects of different soil textures...