JamesEckstein

Mr.Hendricks
Engineering
22April2016
Bioremediation
Anestimated205milliongallonsofcrudeoilleakedfrom
BPsbrokenwellheadintothe
GulfofMexicooverthecourseof84days.Thismakesitofficiallythelargestoilspillin
Americanhistoryandthesecondlargestinternationally,followingthePersianGulfWaroilspill.
Oftencomparedtoamissiontothemoon,theplantoharvestoilintheGulfofMexicowas
extremelycomplexandduetomanyhumanandtechnicalerrorswasanutterfailure.Theeffects
ontheecosystemwerecatastrophic,coveringaquaticanimalssuchasdolphins,whales,sea
turtles,birdsandfishesinoil,causingvarioushealthissuesandaswellashurtlingtheir
environmenttonearcollapse.Thecleanupprocessbeganveryshortlyaftertheincident,
beginningwithattemptstocontaintheoil,whichprovedtoberatherineffective,dispersant,
controlledburns,skimming,etc.werealsousedandsucceededinremovingaboutafourthofthe
800millionlitersofhydrocarbonsaccordingtoUSgovernmentestimates.Themajorityofthe
cleaningwasstillleftformicrobes,astheearliertechniquesonlyremovedhydrocarbons.The
twomainkindsofbioremediationusedwerebioaugmentationandbiostimulation.
Bioaugmentationusednutrientanddispersantstoinducegrowthoftherelativelysmallamount
ofmicrobesputinaselectcontaminatedareaandincreasecontactareabetweenthemicrobes
andtheoil.Biostimulationusednutrientstostimulateincreaseinindigenousmicrobes,makingit
preferabletobioaugmentationwhenmicrobesthatarecapableofbreakingdownoil.Ourclass

didasimulationofthiswheretheobjectivewastomaketheavesselthatcreatedasuitable
environmentforyeasttobreakdownsugar,mixedwithwater,intocarbondioxideandethanol.
Theobjectiveoftheprojectwastobreakdownthemostsugaraspossiblewiththeleastcost.We
wereallowedtousecatalystslikeheatandmixing,buttheywerecostlysonotidealandalso
allowedtochoosetheamountofyeastaddedtooursugarwater,butthatalsocostmoney.
MypartnerandIwenttoworktestingtheeffectsoflightandincreasedyeast.Wefilled2
ofour4beakerswiththesameamountofsugar,waterandyeast,placingoneindirectlightand
fashionedahoodfortheother,blockingasmuchlightaspossible.Theother2beakerswere
filledwiththesameamountofsugarandwaterwithdifferentamountsofyeast.Weobserved
thatthereactionseemedtoprogressbetterwiththebeakerinlightandthebeakerwithmore
yeast.Observingourfriendsreactions,wesawthatagitatedandheatedreactionsseemedto
workwellaswell,butaftersearchingtheinternetwediscoveredthatyeastdiesatafairlylow
temp(140degreesfahrenheit)sowedecidednottoriskitastheresultswesawintheclasscould
haveinflatedbytheexpansionofheat.Whenwemadeourreactionvesselwedecidedtousea
largereflectivepantoexposethereactiontoasmuchlightaspossibleandwealsotriedtomake
adevicethatwouldstirthesolution,butitendedupbeingtoocomplicatedandultimatelyfailed.
Thetestwasfairlysimple,wewouldallfillourvesselswiththesameamountofwater
andsalt,heatwouldcost50imaginarydollars,aswouldagitationandeachgramofyeastcost1
dollar.After20minutes,wewouldgomeasurethedensityofthesolutionwithahydrometer,a
devicemeanttocalculatedensity,andseethedifferencefromtheoriginaldensityofthemixture
andthefinaldensity.Weboughtagitatingaswellasgetting36gramsofyeast.Afterthe20
minuteswemeasuredthedensityofourreactedsolutiontofindthatthedensitywasactually

greaterthantheoriginaldensity.However,wedidseethereactionoccur,butassumedthatthe
solutionwouldbelessdenseafterthereactionoccurred.
Inconclusion,mypartnerandIdidsucceedinmakingthereactionoccur,but
unfortunatelydidnthaveawaytomeasurehowwellourreactiondidsowecouldntcompare
ourstoothergroupswithdifferentreactionvesseldesignssowecouldntseehoweffectiveour
planwas.

WorksCited
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Hoch,Maureen."NewEstimatePutsGulfOilLeakat205MillionGallons."
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