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Insight into Oily Sludge Treatment by High-Temperature Bioaugmentation: Petroleum Components Degradation and
Xinge Fu1, Jin Li2, Qinghong Wang2
1Shandong Key Laboratory of Green Electricity & Hydrogen Science and Technology, School of Chemical Engineering, Shandong Institute of Petroleum and Chemical Technology, Dongying 257061, China.
Microorganisms
|July 28, 2026
Summary
High-temperature bioaugmentation with thermophilic bacteria and biosurfactant effectively removes petroleum from oily sludge. This advanced treatment reduces hydrocarbons and moisture, making sludge safer and enabling resource recovery.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Science
- Microbiology
- Biotechnology
Background:
- Thermochemical washing of oily sludge is effective for resource recovery but leaves residual petroleum, posing environmental risks.
- Deep treatment of washed oily sludge is crucial to mitigate pollution from remaining petroleum components.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate high-temperature bioaugmentation for deep treatment of washed oily sludge.
- To assess the technology's effectiveness in petroleum component degradation and microbial community regulation.
Main Methods:
- Application of high-temperature bioaugmentation with thermophilic bacteria and biosurfactant.
- Analysis of petroleum content (n-alkanes, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) and moisture.
- High-throughput sequencing for microbial community analysis.
- Microbial association network and functional analysis.
Main Results:
- The T2 group (thermophilic bacteria + 200 mg/kg biosurfactant) significantly enhanced petroleum degradation.
- Petroleum and moisture content reduced to 19.6 g/kg and 4% respectively.
- n-alkanes and PAHs decreased by over 75% and 40% respectively compared to the blank group.
- Exogenous thermophilic bacteria (Ureibacillus, Bacillus) became dominant.
- Bioaugmentation shifted microbial interactions to cooperation, increasing functional modules for enhanced hydrocarbon degradation.
Conclusions:
- High-temperature bioaugmentation is a promising approach for the deep treatment of oily sludge.
- This method achieves significant reduction of petroleum contaminants and enhances sludge harmlessness.
- The technology promotes synergistic hydrocarbon degradation through microbial community restructuring.
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