Bacteria are helping out on deepwater horizion oil spill

[William Gaatjes]

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18971-bacteria-help-to-clean-up-deepwater-horizon-spill.html

Zoom in on the Deepwater Horizon oil slick and you will find a motley community of critters hard at work breaking down the oil: bacteria.

At the annual meeting of the American Society for Microbiology in San Diego, California, this week, Jay Grimes of the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg reported that over the past few years, researchers have found that dozens of different kinds of marine bacteria have a healthy appetite for oil.

He said that water samples from the Gulf of Mexico are showing signs that marine bacteria are already pitching in to help with clean-up efforts, and that populations of these bacteria in this area are likely to boom as they feast on the oil from the Deepwater Horizon disaster.

Among these are members of the Vibrio family, which includes the species that causes cholera. Grimes cautions that there is no evidence that this species is one of those that breaks down oil, although other Vibrios that cause human infections do.

"The Vibrios use breakdown products of oil," says Rita Colwell of the University of Maryland in College Park. "When [the oil from Deepwater Horizon] reaches the estuary, Vibrios very likely will increase."
Feasting bacteria

Colwell says that the greatest risk of bacterial infection in the Gulf comes from Vibrio fish pathogens and other species that commonly infect shellfish. Some of these can cause disease in humans.

Grimes's research department had the only research vessel, the R/V Pelican, on the scene until BP sent one in this week. It brought back samples of oil droplets that already had Vibrios clustered around them. Low oxygen levels were also detected near patches of oil, a sign that bacteria are feasting.

Crucially, R/V Pelican happened to be in the area when Deepwater Horizon blew up. That means the team could immediately collect water samples to test for bacterial populations from areas that were threatened by the spill but had not yet been contaminated. The work is on-going and will be vital in future studies of how the spill has changed local ecosystems.

"Now we plan to see how the microbial community evolves when you give it oil," says Grimes. He hopes to screen bacteria from oil-affected water for the DNA of oil-eating enzymes, and use this to determine their species.

"This blowout could permanently reshuffle the microbial community in the Gulf," Grimes says. In previous research he found that Vibrio became the dominant type of marine bacteria off the south-eastern US as oil tanker traffic increased after the 1970s.
Long-term threat

For now the oil mainly threatens larval fish clinging to the underside of mats of seaweed. "I hope most of the oil will stay out to sea," says Grimes. "It may kill a year's production of fish, but if it hits the coastal marshes, it could be there for a decade." At particular risk are coastal salt marshes.

Ultimately, the tiny bacteria which Grimes and his colleagues are poring over will finish the Deepwater clean-up operation. Speaking at the San Diego meeting, Ron Atlas of the University of Louisville, Kentucky, said that the oil-eating microbes already present in seawater will be enough to get rid of any oil that is not physically removed by the clean-up crews – except for insoluble, tarry material that poses little toxic risk.

Atlas, who managed the "bioremediation" of the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska, says the bacterial process will be helped if fertiliser is added to the water, as then the oil-eaters will have the nitrogen and phosphate they need to grow.

Fertiliser has already been used to aid the bacterial breakdown of oil that has hit the shore, but it could also help bacteria in the open sea if it is added to the detergents that are being used to disperse the oil. The fertiliser lodges in the surface of the oil droplets created by the detergents, he says – right where the bacteria can use them.

 

[werepossum]

The Gulf is awash in primary producers that feed on complex hydrocarbons because so much naturally leaks in. Most of these though are obligate benthic organisms. If there is the right concentration in the water column (enough to make breaking down these hydrocarbons a net energy gain but not enough to be toxic) then the Gulf could experience a massive bloom of pelagic bacteria that are opportunistic feeders on complex hydrocarbons. While this would certainly help limit the spread of the oil around the edges, it could cause another problem. The Gulf develops a large dead zone each summer because of the huge nutrient inflow from sewage and agricultural runoff. First phytoplankton blooms on the rich nutrients, then as they run low on limiting micro-nutrients and begin dying off bacteria bloom. The bacterial blooms are massive enough to use up all the free oxygen in large zones, creating a dead zone where only organisms capable of sustained oxygen conversion (from nitrates, sulphates, etc.) survive and thrive. Assuming that we have a bloom of oil-eating bacteria big enough to make much difference, we might well have a more severe dead zone.

 

[Cerpin Taxt]

I guess adding personal commentary is no longer a requirement


--------------------
Much depends on the nature of the post.

Those that are political in nature, REQUIRE commentary.

Anandtech Moderator
Common Courtesy

 

[DisgruntledVirus]

The Gulf is awash in primary producers that feed on complex hydrocarbons because so much naturally leaks in. Most of these though are obligate benthic organisms. If there is the right concentration in the water column (enough to make breaking down these hydrocarbons a net energy gain but not enough to be toxic) then the Gulf could experience a massive bloom of pelagic bacteria that are opportunistic feeders on complex hydrocarbons. While this would certainly help limit the spread of the oil around the edges, it could cause another problem. The Gulf develops a large dead zone each summer because of the huge nutrient inflow from sewage and agricultural runoff. First phytoplankton blooms on the rich nutrients, then as they run low on limiting micro-nutrients and begin dying off bacteria bloom. The bacterial blooms are massive enough to use up all the free oxygen in large zones, creating a dead zone where only organisms capable of sustained oxygen conversion (from nitrates, sulphates, etc.) survive and thrive. Assuming that we have a bloom of oil-eating bacteria big enough to make much difference, we might well have a more severe dead zone.

Not to mention that the bacteria won't be able to take care of that oil with the volume out there. It's good they can help, but sounds like it's one of those "well it's good now, but..." kind of deals

 

[Modelworks]

Probably wouldn't work but bacteria got me thinking about my aquarium. It uses biological filtration, bits of rubber foam that are sprayed with water from the tank to feed the bacteria that live inside the pores, that live off the junk in the water. Maybe give the bacteria a suitable habitat between the leak and the coast, it wouldn't take much and bacteria are great at reproducing quickly.

Another thing the aquarium uses is a protein skimmer. Protein skimmers take water in , and spin it at high speeds using motors or air that causes things like oil in the water to froth up into a foam that can be easily removed completely separating it from the water.
Could something like that be adapted to ships to separate the oil from water cheaply ?

 

[JSt0rm]

Another thing the aquarium uses is a protein skimmer. Protein skimmers take water in , and spin it at high speeds using motors or air that causes things like oil in the water to froth up into a foam that can be easily removed completely separating it from the water.
Could something like that be adapted to ships to separate the oil from water cheaply ?

Thats what the Kevin Costner thing does.

 

[William Gaatjes]

The Gulf is awash in primary producers that feed on complex hydrocarbons because so much naturally leaks in. Most of these though are obligate benthic organisms. If there is the right concentration in the water column (enough to make breaking down these hydrocarbons a net energy gain but not enough to be toxic) then the Gulf could experience a massive bloom of pelagic bacteria that are opportunistic feeders on complex hydrocarbons. While this would certainly help limit the spread of the oil around the edges, it could cause another problem. The Gulf develops a large dead zone each summer because of the huge nutrient inflow from sewage and agricultural runoff. First phytoplankton blooms on the rich nutrients, then as they run low on limiting micro-nutrients and begin dying off bacteria bloom. The bacterial blooms are massive enough to use up all the free oxygen in large zones, creating a dead zone where only organisms capable of sustained oxygen conversion (from nitrates, sulphates, etc.) survive and thrive. Assuming that we have a bloom of oil-eating bacteria big enough to make much difference, we might well have a more severe dead zone.

I am also worried about this effect. Maybe bacteria can be introduced who produce oxygen to restore the balance ? Stimulating an artificial maintained ecosystem ?
I think when using nature, humanity has to think big. I think 1 bacteria will never do. A balance of complementary bacteria is needed to prevent a runaway effect. A biological Stirling engine, for a lack of better words. The way the heat and the cold phase alternate on each other... Cycle is the magic word.

 

[werepossum]

Probably wouldn't work but bacteria got me thinking about my aquarium. It uses biological filtration, bits of rubber foam that are sprayed with water from the tank to feed the bacteria that live inside the pores, that live off the junk in the water. Maybe give the bacteria a suitable habitat between the leak and the coast, it wouldn't take much and bacteria are great at reproducing quickly.

Another thing the aquarium uses is a protein skimmer. Protein skimmers take water in , and spin it at high speeds using motors or air that causes things like oil in the water to froth up into a foam that can be easily removed completely separating it from the water.
Could something like that be adapted to ships to separate the oil from water cheaply ?

I'm not sure about cheaply, but foam fractionating will certainly work, as will centrifuges. Steven Baldwin called in to Rush yesterday or the day before to talk about centrifuges. Seems Kevin Kostner and someone else have teamed up and are producing shipboard centrifuges to separate spilled oil from seawater. BP is testing them now and Baldwin said they are working well. Unfortunately the largest current model filters 200 gpm - not much when you're talking about a spill of this magnitude. I only heard a fragment of the conversation, but it sounded quite promising. Ideally we could use something sized for the fishing boats that are idled by spills anyway, then we'd have fleets of boats immediately plus a valuable product (recovered oil.) I doubt that the recovered oil would pay for the energy and labor involved, but if it's a choice between recovering oil and a labor intensive oil clean-up process, it's a no-brainer. Alternately or in conjunction those boats could tow massive fine filament nets seeded with bacteria into place, which would act both as a bacterial filter and a physical barrier. That's more iffy though, as a relatively low (for a spill) concentration of oil would suppress and then kill the bacteria intended to consume it.

 

[theeedude]

We should just have fishermen fish for oil, and they get to sell it

 

[werepossum]

I am also worried about this effect. Maybe bacteria can be introduced who produce oxygen to restore the balance ? Stimulating an artificial maintained ecosystem ?
I think when using nature, humanity has to think big. I think 1 bacteria will never do. A balance of complementary bacteria is needed to prevent a runaway effect. A biological Stirling engine, for a lack of better words. The way the heat and the cold phase alternate on each other... Cycle is the magic word.

Are there any oxygen-tolerant bacteria that preferentially take up reducing energy from sulphates or nitrates (or hydrocarbons) and excrete oxygen? I can't think of any, although admittedly my knowledge of bacteria is low. Might have to use phytoplankton for that part of the cycle, just seed the needed micro-nutrients like iron.

Also, a high speed centrifuge or other fractionating process could restore oxygen from trapped air.

 

[Modelworks]

I'm not sure about cheaply, but foam fractionating will certainly work, as will centrifuges. Steven Baldwin called in to Rush yesterday or the day before to talk about centrifuges. Seems Kevin Kostner and someone else have teamed up and are producing shipboard centrifuges to separate spilled oil from seawater. BP is testing them now and Baldwin said they are working well. Unfortunately the largest current model filters 200 gpm - not much when you're talking about a spill of this magnitude.

Would need to scale up the size quite a bit but the designs, at least for the aquarium based ones are pretty simple.
http://www.aquacave.com/ProteinSkimmers.aspx

 

[ElFenix]

interesting

vibrio can be carried by oysters. in people with weak immune systems or damaged livers it can cause some problems. vibrio can't survive in cool enough water so eating oysters straight out of the gulf in colder months isn't a problem. plus oysters don't taste all that great in summer due to the conversion of glycogen to gonad. spawning oysters = gross.

 

[William Gaatjes]

Are there any oxygen-tolerant bacteria that preferentially take up reducing energy from sulphates or nitrates (or hydrocarbons) and excrete oxygen? I can't think of any, although admittedly my knowledge of bacteria is low. Might have to use phytoplankton for that part of the cycle, just seed the needed micro-nutrients like iron.

Also, a high speed centrifuge or other fractionating process could restore oxygen from trapped air.

Good question. My knowledge is limited as well. The amount of different bacteria existing is enormous. I as well can only think of cyanobacteria at the moment or as you already mentioned blue-green algae or phytoplankton.

But a centrifuge should work right away.