Multifunctional Hydrocarbon Cleaning Package: Removing, Degrading, and Protecting

摘要

Removal and proper disposal of hydrocarbon pollutants is increasingly becoming a task we have to face in our daily lives. From disastrous large scale oil spill, to everyday small accidental leakage at garage or gas station, to cleaning grease off metal parts in metal working industry, an efficient, cost effective and environment-friendly cleaning solution for hydrocarbon contamination is desired. The ideal products would allow a user to remove hydrocarbon contaminants and easily dispose of the waste in a manner that meets environmental regulation requirements. In the case of metal working applications, a cleaning product that protects the parts from corroding after grease removal will greatly increase productivity. The products discussed in this paper perform multifunctional duty of removing hydrocarbon and degrading them in a single package utilizing hydrocarbon degrading bacterium. In addition, the products for metal working application provide corrosion protection to the cleaned metal parts. Three products were evaluated: a soil bio-remediator, and two degreasers. The test results show that the soil remediator had a 60% reduction of hydrocarbons in contaminated soil vs an untreated, using Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry with a modified EPA Method 8270. The degreaser products exhibited grease removal effectiveness of up to 95% according to ASTM G-122. The compatibility between the corrosion inhibitor and the microbes in the degreaser was studied by measuring microbial viability in cell cultures. The degreasers provided corrosion protection of 90-95% according to ATSM G31.