Novel sucrose lipid produced by Serratia marcescens and its application inenhanced oil recovery

Serratia marcescens MTCC 86 when grown on sucrose produced a novel sucrose lipid that was different from the amino lipids produced from n-alkane by ot her strains of S. marcescens. The sucrose lipid isolated by acetone precipi tation technique was found to be predominantly a mixture of 3-(3'-hydroxyte tradecanayloxy) decanoate and 3-(3'-hydroxyhexadecenoyloxy) decanoate. This sucrose lipid exhibited excellent emulsification activity with a wide vari ety of hydrocarbons. It was effective in recovering up to 90% residual oil from the oil-saturated sandpack column suggesting its use in enhanced oil r ecovery. It also showed a strong ability to remove oil from the wails of th e containers, indicating its potential use in cleaning operations.