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Updated: May 22, 2026

Enhanced Oil Recovery using a Combination of Biosurfactants
Published on: June 3, 2022
Biosurfactants: a sustainable replacement for chemical surfactants?
Roger Marchant1, Ibrahim M Banat
1School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Ulster, Coleraine, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, BT521SA, UK. r.marchant@ulster.ac.uk
Abstract:
Glycolipid biosurfactants produced by bacteria and yeasts provide significant opportunities to replace chemical surfactants with sustainable biologically produced alternatives in bulk commercial products such as laundry detergents and surface cleaners. Sophorolipids are already available in sufficient yield to make their use feasible while rhamnolipids and mannosylerythritol lipids require further development. The ability to tailor the biosurfactant produced to the specific needs of the product formulation will be an important future step.
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