The Harvard Research Paper

The Harvard Research Paper

[Date of Submission]

Critical Review

Critical Review3

Introduction4

History5

Discussion9

Future prospects13

Design Study

Format16

Structure18

Introduction18

Research plan18

Experimental approach19

Data analysis20

Health and Safety21

Liaison22

Assessment22

CRITICAL REVIEW

BIODEGRADATION KINETICS OF BENZENE IN VARIOUS TREATMENT SYSTEMS

This review is submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirement of MSc Environmental Biotechnology.

Date of Submission:

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Biodegradation Kinetics of Benzene in Various Treatment Systems

Introduction

It is important to mitigate ecosystem damage and understand the degradation of hydrocarbons by microorganisms as the marine environment is highly susceptible to pollution by petroleum. The individual population of microbes do not function alone in nature, therefore, in the recent decade, our understanding about the genetics, biochemistry, physiology and ecology of oil-degrading fungi and bacteria has increased greatly. A temporal succession can be led by the surrounding environment as resource partitioning by microbial modification of oil components, and microbial populations are required by the diverse array of hydrocarbons present in crude oil.

Within and between the species, a network of indirect and direct interactions is observing even with the presence of one type of hydrocarbon. Benzene is a carcinogenic and ubiquitous highly toxic organic environmental pollutant and is derives from incomplete combustion in forest fires, cigarette smoke and incomplete combustion in volcanoes as well as reforming of straight-chain alkynes, petroleum and fossil fuels (Abu Laban & Et.al, 2010, pp. 2783). At hydrocarbon-contaminated aquifers, under the anaerobic conditions, Benzene is a common groundwater pollutant that is prevailed. To assess the feasibility of intrinsic bioremediation, determine the potential for anaerobic benzene degradation is important.

At sites contaminated with petroleum product releases, corrective actions are often derived by the single compound of benzene. In losses during spills or as a consequence of illegal discharges, the contaminated aquifers are often found with pollutants that are a group of mono-aromatic petroleum-derived pollutants; these groups contain BTEX elements that are xylenes, toluene, benzene and ethyl-benzene. For assessing the potential effects of contamination on the surrounding environment, an important parameter is represented by the response of indigenous microbial communities towards chemical pollutants that are entering the subsurface. With respect to the involved microorganisms and their metabolism, the anaerobic biodegradation of benzene is insufficiently understood that is one of the least reactive aromatic hydrocarbons and a common constituent of petroleum.

Programs to support the use of automobile fuels like gasohol and ethanol and other alternative fuels were developed by several nations all around the world with the need for clean energy production and with growing environment pollution after the first oil crisis the era of 1970s. The enhancement of the octane number of gasoline and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions are the main advantages of the ethanol-blend fuels.

History

The major threat that still remains to the sustainability of planet earth is marine oil pollution, particularly by crude oil, the coastal zones, oceans and our seas are under great stress. Each year, in the marine environment, an estimated of 1.3 million tonnes of petroleum enters it. After the Deepwater Horizon explosion in the Gulf of Mexico, approximately 600,000 tonnes of crude oil and off the ...