INDUSTRIAL

MICROBIOLOGY
The Use of Microbes in Industrial Applications
and Disposal of Waste
MICROBES USED IN
CLEANING OIL SPILL &
WATER TREATMENT
BY OOI ZHE CHANG
Oil-eating microorganisms a solution to
clean up oil spill

 Some microbes that use oil as their fuel digesting oil

droplets
There are many natural factors in cleaning up oil spill:
Evaporation
Dissolution
Dispersion
Photo-oxidation

However, these factors alone are not enough.

Why using microbes is a good choice?

Does not cause additional harm to the environment
Surprisingly high efficiency
Low initial cost and operating cost

BP's 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico

Shortcomings of this application:
The process may not be fast enough to prevent ecological damages
Plenty of tarlike hydrocarbons are far too big for microbes to chew
up.
Oxygen, which is the biggest requirements for the microbes to
function, may be absent below the water surface.
Even the smaller molecules cannot be consumed if there are not
enough nutrients in the water, like nitrogen or phosphorus.
The microbial population boom may have meant an accompanying
boom in their predators or in the various viruses that can infect these
spill-eaters.
Adding too much fertilizer may create blooms of algae that use up all
the oxygen in the surrounding water, creating “dead zones.”
The Use of Microbes in Cleaning Shores

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsqCJwWDrFk
The use of microbes in waste water treatment

 A general idea of how a microbial waste water

treatment system works.
Why water treatment is needed?
 Wastewater can be detrimental to the environment if left untreated. That is because
waste from humans and pets are a source of several types od waterborne diseases and
bacterial contamination.
 The role of microorganisms in wastewater treatment helps to treat and purify
wastewater and make it less harmful to the environment.

What are the microorganisms used in water treatment?

 Bacteria (95%)
 Protozoa (4%)
 Metazoa (1%)

What are the advantages of microbial water treatment?

 Lower operating costs compared to alternatives
 Efficient degradation and removal of organic and inorganic compounds
 Improved flexibility to handle a wide range of wastewater characteristics and flows
COMMON MICROORGANISMS USED IN WASTEWATER TREATMENT
AEROBIC BACTERIA
 Aerobic bacteria are mostly used in new treatment plants in what is known as an
aerated environment. This bacterium uses the free oxygen within the water to
degrade the pollutants in the wastewater and then converts it into its own fuel.
 Oxygen must beadded mechanically to ensure the bacteria are able to do their job
correctly and continue to grow and reproduce on its food source.
ANAEROBIC BACTERIA
 Anaerobic bacteria are used in wastewater treatment on a normal basis. The main
role of these bacteria in sewage treatment is to reduce the volume of sludge and
produce methane gas from it.
 They are used more frequently than aerobic bacteria because the methane gas, if
cleaned and handled properly, can be used as an alternative energy source.
 Unlike aerobic bacteria, they will not require adding oxygen to help do its
job. Phosphorus removal from wastewater is another benefit of anaerobic microbes
used in sewage treatment.
FACULTATIVE
 Facultative microorganisms in sewage treatment are bacteria that can change
between aerobic and anaerobic depending on the environment they are in. These
bacteria normally prefer to be in an aerobic condition.
Use of Microbes in Waste Water Treatment

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kC0hU9X9m-I
 Industrial Application & Disposal
of Waste Products Using Microorganisms

How

work?
bacteria

By Camy Chai
plastic-eating
Understanding Plastics are complex polymers, meaning they are long,
repeating chains of molecules that don’t dissolve in water. The

Plastic strength of these chains makes plastic very durable and means
it takes a very long time to decompose naturally. If they could
be broken down into their smaller, soluble chemical units, then
these building blocks could be harvested and recycled to form
new plastics in a closed-loop system.
 PETase enzyme
In 2016, scientists from Japan tested different bacteria from a bottle recycling plant and
Secreted by
found that Ideonella sakaiensis 201-F6 could digest the plastic used to make single-use
drinks bottles, polyethylene terephthalate (PET). It works by secreting an enzyme (a type
Ideonella
of protein that can speed up chemical reactions) known as PETase. This splits certain sakaiensis 201-F6
chemical bonds (esters) in PET, leaving smaller molecules that the bacteria can absorb,
using the carbon in them as a food source.
Scientists accidentally
make plastic eating
bacteria | Engadget Today

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAJlMz4e1UM
 Benefits
02
The enzyme facilitates plastic recycling by breaking
down some plastics – such as PET #1 into chemical
intermediates that can be recovered and turned back
into plastic products.
 There is one worry, though. While any modified bacteria used in

But… bioreactors are likely to be highly controlled, the fact that it evolved to
degrade and consume plastic in the first place suggests this material we
rely on so heavily may not be as durable as we thought.

If more bacteria began eating plastic in the wild then products and
structures designed to last many years could come under threat. The
plastics industry would face the serious challenge of preventing its
products becoming contaminated with hungry micro-organisms.
Human Insulin

Prepared by: Shee Loke Yang

Why do we need Insulin ?

• Pancreas Failure • Type 1 Diabetes

 E. Coli Bacteria
(Escherichia coli).
• Human insulin comes almost 50 years after animal insulin
was used.
• Usually a purified form of insulin from pigs(porcine) & cows.
How Insulin was produced ?
How Insulin was produced ?
 Genetic Engineering Insulin
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7FdzpE2GIE
Industrial Microbiology:
Energy Production
LOO WEI KIT
 History

1931 1977 May 2007

1911 1st Microbial
Microbial Half Microbial Fuel
1st Report Fuel Cell
Fuel Cell Cell Prototype
designed
What is a Microbial Fuel Cell?

Chemical Electrical
Energy Energy
Microorganism

Anode: Cathode:
Oxidation Reduction
 MFC: Types

Mediated Mediator-free
• Electrochemically active bacteria
• Electrochemically inactive bacteria
• Eg: Shewanella putrefaciens,
• Mediator: Thionine, Methyl Blue
Aeromonas hydrophilia
 MFC: Types
Soil-based
• Soil acts as nutrient rich anodic
media

• Aerobic microbes: oxygen filter

Phototropic biofilm Nanoporous membrane

• Allow passive diffusion
• Photosynthetic bacteria
• Higher efficiency in generating
• Eg: chlorophyta, candyanophyta
energy
 Generation Process
C12H22O11 + 13H2O → 12CO2 + 48H+ + 48e−
 Application

Power Generation Education

• Wireless sensor networks • Thomas Jefferson High
School For Science and
• Power stations Technology
 Application

Biosensors Wastewater Treatment

• Sensor in underwater • Harvest energy utilizing
Anaerobic digestion
• Shewanella Oneidensis
• Reduce pathogen
Thank You