ARABIAN LIGHT 150 ASPHALTENE BIOTRANSFORMATION WITH N-ALKANES AS CO-SUBSTRATES

The biotransformation of Arabian Light oil asphaltene has been studied with an n-alkane mixture as a co-substrate. The experiments were cond ucted in synthetic sea water with a hydrocarbonoclastic mixed populati on of 10 bacterial strains. After a one-month exposure, the mass loss of asphaltenes in the test flasks was partly due to an abiotic process (18 %) and to a biotic process by co-metabolism (5 %). Hydrocarbons p reviously trapped in the asphaltenic matrix were also released in the evaporation control flasks. Aromatic and polar fractions appeared in b oth test and control flasks were analysed by GC/FID, GC/MS and FTIR sh owing qualitative and quantitative differences, involving the identifi cation of aromatic degradation products. (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd