General
- Biosurfactants are surface-active
substances synthesised by living cells. They have the properties of
reducing surface tension, stabilising emulsions, promoting foaming and
are generally non-toxic and biodegradable. Biosurfactants enhance the
emulsification of hydrocarbons, have the potential to solubilise
hydrocarbon contaminants and increase their availability for microbial
degradation. Biosurfactant producing microorganisms may play an
important role in the accelerated bioremediation of hydrocarbon
contaminated sites
- The water-soluble derivatives with
low degree of esterification represent novel anionic polymeric
biosurfactants exhibiting emulsifying ability for oil/water type
emulsions as well as good performance properties. Rhamnolipid
biosurfactants are alternatives to common surfactants such as
nonylphenol ethoxylate, which has come under scrutiny for its potential
environmental toxicity.
Production
- Biosurfactants are surface active
substances derived from living organisms, mainly from
microorganisms. At present biosurfactants are readily bio-
degradable and can be produced from renewable and cheaper
substrates, they might be able to replace their chemically
synthesized counter parts. Among the heterogeneous group of
biosurfactants, the rhamnose-containing glycolipids produced by
Pseudomonas.
- Various types of biosurfactant
are synthesized by a number of microbes particularly during their
growth on water-immiscible substrates. A majority of biosurfactants
are produced by bacteria.Biosurfactant produced from water insoluble
substrates such as used oils reduced the surface tension of water to
below 29 dynes/cm. The biosurfactant was produced during the growth
phase. The produced biosurfactant increased the apparent solubility
of naphthalene from 32 to over 500 mg/L.
Technology
- Soil washing with biosurfactants
reduces soil cleaning time more than 3 times. 80 80-90 % of washed
out oil can be re reused used. Only complex soil cleaning
technologies can be used as effective, short short-term and
multipurpose. Soil polluted by high concentration of oil can not be
cleaned using biological soil cleaning methods.
- Biosurfactant technology can be
an effective and nondestructive method for bioremediation of cadmium
and lead contaminated soil. A technology for production of
biosurfactants with moisturizing properties equivalent to those of
natural ceramides is established using yeast cells and vegetable
oils. The developed technology reduces production costs to one tenth
of natural ceramide products.
Application
- Most of the biosurfactants are
high molecular weight lipid complexes which are normally produced
under highly aerobic conditions. This is achievable in their ex-situ
production in aerated bioreactors. When their large scale
application in petroleum and soil is encountered, their in-situ
production (and action) would be advantageous.
- Flavobacterium sp. Flavolipid
represents an entirely new class of biosurfactants. Some believes
that this new class of biosurfactants will be of interest for
potential use in a wide variety of industrial and biotechnology
applications. At present, bioremediation enhanced processes, using
bio-surfactants, have relied on the direct introduction of
biosurfactants into the contaminated site.
Market & Report
- Biosurfactant producers
constituted between 10– 35 % of the aerobic heterotrophic bacterial
population. The majority of the Ft. Lupton and Tall Grass Prairie
samples had biosurfactant-producing populations at approximately 1
%. Tulsa Rose Garden soils have a higher percentage of biosurfactant
producers over the Ft. Lupton and Tall Grass Prairie soils. The
fraction of biosurfactant producers was three times the level in the
RST soil than in the Tulsa Rose Garden soil
- The U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency has considered rhamnolipid biosurfactant in light of the
relevant safety factors in the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA) of
1996 and under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide
Act (FIFRA) and has not identified any dietary or non-dietary
exposure issues that may affect the U.S. population in general,
including infants and children.
- International Access Corporation
(IAC) in association with the Center for International Science and
Technology Policy (CISTP) at the George Washington University has
undertaken a comprehensive analysis of three important fields within
the U.S. biotechnology industry:
tissue engineering, bio-related devices, and advanced bio-processes.
- The Indian Institute of Petroleum
(IIP), is now a globally known organization with an annual budget of
more than Rs 1,100 lakhs. Recently accredited with ISO-9001 standard
by Det Norske Veritas, an international certification body based in
The Netherlands and working jointly with several multinational
giants, IIP has transferred its technologies to some 28 companies
countrywide. The institute employs around 600 scientific and
technical people who are working on some 100 projects each year.
- IIP has so far developed more
than a dozen catalysts out of which several have been
commercialized. The institute’s success with state-of-the-art
bimetallic Pt-Re reforming catalyst (semiregenerative) has already
become something of a legend.
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