title: Exploring the Effectiveness of Biosurfactant in Enhancing Oil Recovery and Reducing Environmental Impact in Oil and Gas Industry
Creators: name: Arumanatharayil, Justin Joseph
Publisher: name: TU Wien
Year: 2024
Subjects: subject: Biosurfactants
subject: Enhanced Oil Recovery
subject: Sustainability
subject: Environmental Remediation
subject: Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery

description: The oil and gas sector, which is essential to the world's energy production, must balance increasing productivity with reducing its negative environmental effects. This thesis investigates the transformative potential of biosurfactants environmentally friendly surfactants made by microorganisms in the framework of enhanced oil recovery (EOR) techniques to address these issues. The analysis emphasizes how important biosurfactants are to EOR, especially to Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery (MEOR). Their distinct properties, which include modifying the wettability of reservoir rock, decreasing interfacial tension, and augmenting microbial motility, establish them as essential instruments for optimizing oil recovery from subterranean reservoirs. Moreover, biosurfactants' low toxicity, biodegradability, and renewable source make them environmentally friendly and consistent with the global trend toward sustainable practices. Despite the difficulties such as yield issues and safety concerns related to biosurfactants, such as rhamnolipids increasing corporate interest and continued research highlight their potential as reasonably priced and ecologically benign substitutes. Because biosurfactants can be made from a variety of microorganisms and have a broad range of structures, they present new avenues for research and application. Beyond EOR, the analysis highlights the versatility of biosurfactants in a range of industries, such as bioremediation, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and food production. Because of their versatility, biosurfactants including those made from plants offer more opportunities for creativity and novel applications. Scalability and cost-effectiveness of production must still be addressed, though, to compete with surfactants made chemically. The significance of thorough evaluations in the production of biosurfactants is highlighted by a life cycle analysis that takes social and economic factors into account. Social and environmental aspects could be improved by using sustainable methods like solid-state fermentation and using waste feedstocks. To fully realize biosurfactants' potential for building a sustainable and environmentally friendly future, the thesis calls for continued research and innovation. Within EOR, biosurfactants present themselves as environmentally friendly and economically viable alternatives that have the potential to completely transform upstream processes. Because of their biodegradability, reduced toxicity, and capacity to adapt to various reservoir types, they are important candidates for use in sustainable energy practices. Their capacity to reduce surface tension and promote microbial degradation has shown them to be effective in large-scale oil spills, and they hold great promise for environmental remediation. Biosurfactants provide surfactant, antioxidant, and antimicrobial properties to the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries, paving the way for drug delivery, wound healing, and skincare. Biosurfactants demonstrate their versatility in promoting efficiency and sustainability in agriculture by helping to protect seeds, support growth, and nourish animals. But issues with scalability and production costs demand more investigation into more accessible raw materials, enhanced fermentation processes, and different production strategies. Despite the challenges, biosurfactants seem to have a bright future in a variety of industries. To reach their full potential and become the go-to solutions for a variety of applications, more research, creativity, and a dedication to environmentally friendly practices are essential.