The isolation of a thermophilic biosurfactant producing Bacillus SP

SummaryA thermophilic Bacillus strain has been isolated on a hydrocarbon containing medium and grew at up to 50°C. This strain produced biosurfactant and its 20h old culture broth had low surface and interfacial tension (27–29 and 1.5 mN/m, respectively). It emulsified Kerosene and other hydrocarbons efficiently (E−24 = 95 %) and was able to recover more than 95 % of the residual oil from sandpack columns. Potential uses in oil industries are discussed.

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