Crude oil emulsification

A well-studied example of a bioemulsifier is emulsan, a cell surface-exposed molecule that allows Acinetobacter calcoaceticus RAG-1 to attach to crude oil droplets [123]. Upon depletion of the short-chain alkanes utilised by this strain, the emulsan molecules were released from the bacterial surface, thereby allowing the cells to leave the oil droplet and to find a new substrate. Important positive side-effects of this mechanism seem to be that the remaining emulsan hydrophilises the droplet and prevents both the reattachment of A. calcoaceticus RAG-1 and the coalescence of the used oil droplet with other droplets that still contain unexploited alkanes. Bredholt et al. [124] studied the oil-emulsifying activity of Rhodococcus sp. strain 094. When exposed to inducers of crude-oil emulsification, the cells developed a strongly hydrophobic character, which was rapidly lost when crude-oil emulsification started. This indicated that the components responsible for the formation of cell-surface hydrophobi-city acted as emulsion stabilisers after release from the cells. 

Bredholt, H., Bruheim, P., Potocky, M. and Eimhjellen, K. (2002). Hydrophobi-city development, alkane oxidation, and crude-oil emulsification in a Rhodococcus species, Can. J. Microbiol., 48, 295-304. 

M Walker. Crude oil emulsification a comparison of laboratory and sea trials data. Formation and Breaking of Water-in-Oil Emulsions Workshop. Washington, DC, 1993, pp 163—178. 

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See also in sourсe #XX -- [ ]

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