Prevention of Biodeterioration of Crude Oil in Tanks Using Anti-Microbial Agents

The potential use of antimicrobial agents such as ethanol and extract from locally sourced Mitracarpus scaber for the prevention of biodeterioration of crude oil in storage was investigated in this study. Five crude oil samples under various treatment conditions (containing antimicrobial agents) and a control (without antimicrobial agents) were monitored for seven weeks for biodeterioration indicating parameters such as biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), total hydrocarbon content (THC), total microbial count (TMC) and pH. Results obtained for the control experiment indicated biodeterioration of the crude oil sample. This was evident from the variation in the values of BOD, THC, TMC and pH indicating the presence of microbial activity. Results obtained also showed that biodeterioration was mitigated when antimicrobial agents were introduced to the crude oil samples as seen in the stability in the values of BOD, THC, TMC and pH. Of all the samples analysed, sample D containing 100 mL of Mitracarpus scaber extract performed best as evident from the almost constant values of BOD, THC, TMC and pH, indicating the absence of microbial activity.