OIL tastes success in pilot project for bio-remediation

STAFF CORRESPONDENT

DIBRUGARH, Jan 10: The Research and Development Department of Oil India Limited (OIL) has achieved unique success, in the first of its kind ‘Pilot Scale Bio-Remediation’ initiative for improvement of water quality with respect to oil content in the Drilling Effluent Pits at location NLA at Amguri gaon in Dibrugarh district.

The initiative spearheaded by its newly-established Biotechnology Section (Petroleum Biotechnology Centre, JAIVALAYA) started in the month of August, 2015 with an objective of lowering the oil content in Drilling Effluent Pits to less than 10 ppm within a timeframe of six months. The technology used in the pilot scale study involves augmentation of the rate of biodegradation of floating oil in the pits with the help of microorganisms (bacteria) which are turally occurring in the environment along with incorporation of bacterial species capable of rapid degradation of the oil contamition. This is for the first time that such an integrated approach of bio-remediating oil contamition in water bodies (effluent pits) has been tried out in Oil India Limited.

Measurement of the oil content in effluent water, using intertiolly accepted standard protocols and advanced Gas Chromatographic alysis, of the various fractions of crude oil corroborates to the success of the integrated In-Situ bio-remediation/bio-augmentation technology used in the project. The oil content has been brought down to a level of 10 ppm from origil level of 2,00,000 ppm. This has made the environment of the pits conducive for the growth of algae and associated aquatic flora and fau. Results obtained from bio-assay for determining the toxicity of the treated effluent (water) from the pits using the Fish Survivability Test, have been found to conform to the Standards for Discharge of Environmental Pollutants (The Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986) of Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), India.