Bioremediation of crude oil by <Emphasis Type="Italic">Bacillus licheniformis</Emphasis> in the presence of different concentration nanoparticles and produced biosurfactant

This research work focuses on testing the bacterial strain Bacillus licheniformis for the bioremediation capacity of the crude oil. A biosurfactant and two different nanoparticles with different concentrations (0.05, 0.1, 0.2 g/100 ml) were applied separately to enhance the biodegradation process. The optimum biodegradation of crude oil was demonstrated at 60% of microcosms containing biosurfactant and nanoparticles after 7 days. The bacterial strain is highly potential to consume the total paraffins (iso- and n-paraffins) in crude oil samples. Accordingly, the best biodegradation of total paraffins was observed in microcosms containing (0.2 g) of Fe₂O₃, Zn₅(OH)₈Cl₂ (nps) and biosurfactant separately. Additionally, the consumption of specific member rings of polyaromatics depends on the type and the concentration of nanoparticles. Thus, this bacterial strain was considered as a good candidate to be applied in the bioremediation process of petroleum-contaminated sites using biosurfactant and specific concentration of (Fe₂O₃ and Zn₅OH₈Cl₂) nanoparticles.