BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING, ARCHITECTURE, and FINE ARTS

Mechanical and Petroleum Engineering Department

BIOTECHNOLOGY: SULFOLOBUS ACIDOCALDARIUS AS AN EFFECTVE DESULFURING

MICROBE AND BIOCATALYST FOR HEAVY OIL
CONTAINING DRILLING WELLS

A Research Project
Presented to Dr.
Sicily Tiu

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement

for Research Project in Modern Biology

BAGUI, CLARK JESTER

ILAGAN, MAUI
LLANOS, GIOVANNY EARL
VARGAS, MHYKEL BALDWIN

March 2018
Introduction

The use of oil and gas has become a widely need in human’s life. From simple

household items, medical use, and for transportation needs, oil and gas has been

well applied and became a necessity in human’s existence. According to the

Wintershall, Germany’s largest internationally active producer of crude oil and

natural gas, oil, gas and gas condensate are among the most important energy

sources in the world. One thing people know for sure is that oil is a necessity -

currently around 90 million barrels of crude oil a day. But, gathering these sources

are not as basic as how people use it. In the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, they

defined Petroleum Engineers as the one who design and develop methods for

extracting oil and gas from deposits below the Earth’s surface. Petroleum engineers

also find new ways to extract oil and gas from older wells. In line with this, they

must insure the safety of the operation and the environmental protection must

always be the forefront of the drilling design. Various techniques and different

technology is being applied in drilling oil and gas to recover a huge percentage of its

portion in wells.

Through the improvement of technology, many paths were opened for the

betterment of oil recovery. To have sustainable source is the foremost goal of oil and

gas industries to maintain the stability of oil supply. Thus, transformation of heavy

oils into light oils helped the industry to turn produce higher quantity, usable oil.

But, processing heavy oil into lighter ones needs to go through several processes

and stages to turn it to more productive oil. Other than that, some oil contains
different materials which are excluded in the process. In this case, removal of these

materials is needed.

Sulfur is the most abundant element in petroleum after carbon and hydrogen. Crude

oils with higher viscosities and higher densities usually contain higher amounts of

more complex sulfur compounds. In a statistical analysis stated in the “23rd edition

of Marsh’s The 100 Largest Losses,” from 1999-2013, about US130$ million loss was

recorded due to explosions from petrochemicals, refineries and blow outs from oil

rigs. These resulted from corroded equipments such as pipe lines and various

mishandled oil containing tanks which caused leakages. This certifies the refining of

heavy oil to final products requires desulfurization of oil. Many petrochemicals

products are likewise produced to be almost sulfur free. Desulfurization in oil is

probably one of the central conversion requirements in most refineries and the

price of the crude oil is influenced by its sulfur content. Several processes have been

accompanied in removing sulfur in oil. Desulfurization is usually discussed in terms

of sulfur removal from lighter refinery cuts, such as naphtha, distillate, and light

vacuum gas oil fractions. Hydro desulfurization (HDS) accounts as one of the most

commonly used process in desulfuring oil. It is a technology capable of desulfuring

oil but their carbon footprints are substantial. The said technology involves high

temperature processing. In the sense of refining oil, the cost in these technology

increases as heavier and more sulfur-rich crude oils are being processed. Another

technique of desulfurization is through the means of adsorption. The method

includes sorbent materials such as activated carbon, zeolites,, amorphous silica-

aluminas, and metallic organic framework (MOF) were evaluated in desulfurization

of model oils but in spite of the probability to desulfurize oil under mild conditions,

the performance of even the most efficient of the adsorbents is still insufficient for

industrial applications. Thus, this leaded the researchers to step forward into a

more efficient way of desulfuring oil through the application of microorganisms by

the means of biotechnology.

Biotechnology branches out into different application through the means and use

of microorganisms. In the oil industry, various microorganisms were used as an

enzyme to act as a biocatalyst in oil refining. Biocatalysts increase the rate of

chemical reaction in a compound and have a possibility to remove sulfur from

petroleum. According to the St. Louis. Energy BioSystems Corp. (EBC) in Houston,

Texas, certain enzymes could remove the sulfur from petroleum as it is the first

plant to use such system and termed it as Biocatalytic Desulfurization. Moreover,

certain microorganisms can act as a biocatalyst to decrease the viscosity of oil to

increase the flow rate and rate of oil recovery in heavy oil containing wells.

As such, the researchers come up with the research topic “Biotechnology:

Sulfolobus acidocaldarius an an Effective Desulfuring Microbe and Biocatalyst in

Heavy Oil Containing Wells,” that sought to identify the effectiveness of Sulfolobus

acidocaldarius, a thermoacidophilic crenarchaeon that grows optimally at 75-80 °C.

as a desulfuring microbe and an effective Biocatalyst. The researchers hypothesize

the effectiveness of the bacteria among other commonly used thermophilic

microbes such as Pseudomonas and Achromobacter. This would be of big help

among oil rich countries and industries that conducts oil refining as projected action

plans will be procured or implemented as a part of the research process by the

future researchers.

Statement of the problem

In the published “23rd edition of Marsh’s The 100 Largest Losses,” with the use of

Nelson-Farrar Petroleum Plant Cost Index, which allows for an easy comparison of

property damage on a constant basis across the period analyzed, it was shown that a

total of accumulated value of the 100 largest losses is over US$34 billion dating

1974-2013. The two highest contributors is the Upstream which covered the 34% of

loss due to explosions from corrosions of pipelines, other equipments, and human

error and 29% comes from the refining industries with the same cause from the

latter part. This does not yet include the loss of oil companies from addressing

techniques to recover oil and costly desulfurization processes.

The Statement of the Problem suggests the possible questions that could be a

guide in answering the conducted study about the “Biotechnology: Sulfolobus

acidocaldarius an an Effective Desulfuring Microbe and Biocatalyst in Heavy Oil

Containing Wells”.

Specifically, the researchers sought to answer the following questions:

1. What is Sulfolobus acidocaldarius?

2. Is Sulfolobus acidocaldarius an effective desulfuring microbe?

3. Is Sulfolobus acidocaldarius an effective Biocatalyst?

Significance of the Study

The study focused mainly on the determination of effectiveness of Sulfolobus

acidocaldarius an an Effective Desulfuring Microbe and Biocatalyst in Heavy Oil

Containing Wells. Collection and preparation of materials is done for preliminary

tests of Sulfolobus acidocaldarius.

The Oil Industries By studying the “Biotechnology: Sulfolobus

acidocaldarius as an Effective Desulfuring Microbe and Biocatalyst in Heavy Oil

Containing Wells,” the researchers could propose specific action plans to lessen loss

of oil refineries from using various techniques to desulfurize heavy oil that would be

executed by the future researchers.

The Community By identifying the most effective microbe, the

researchers could lessen the loss of earnings from different sectors from different

oil companies. The researchers assume that the oil price would decrease as the

process of recovery and refining of oil becomes efficient. Thus, it would positively

affect the consumers by which oil products would be not costly.

The Researchers una sa lahat mahirap yung research kaya pag natapos to yehey

na kami hahaha

Future Researchers This research could serve as a resource of information

for further studies conducted by other researchers. The recommendations include

the application of the conducted research to the target proponents that would be

executed by the future researchers.

Scope and Limitation

This study is conducted to identify the “Biotechnology: Sulfolobus acidocaldarius an

an Effective Desulfuring Microbe and Biocatalyst in Heavy Oil Containing Wells.” The

limitation of the study would be to the certain strain of Sulfolobus acidocaldarius,

extremophile bacteria. // not sure with the construction of the idea

Conceptual Framework //not sure with the construction of the paradigm

INPUT PROCESS OUTPUT

 Collection  Effectivity of
Sulfolobus Sulfolobus
acidocaldarius acidocaldarius as a
strain desulfuring
FEEDBACK