Surfactant-enhanced remediation of contaminated soil: a review

In the era of global industrialisation, the exploration of natural resources has served as a source of experimentation for science and advanced technologies, giving rise to the manufacturing of products with high aggregate value in the world market, such as biosurfactants. Biosurfactants are amphiphilic microbial molecules with hydrophilic and hydrophobic moieties that partition at liquid/liquid, liquid/gas or liquid/solid interfaces. Such characteristics allow these biomolecules to play a key role in emulsification, foam formation, detergency and dispersal, which are desirable qualities in different industries. Biosurfactant production is considered one of the key technologies for development in the 21st century. Besides exerting a strong positive impact on the main global problems, biosurfactant production has considerable importance to the implantation of sustainable industrial processes, such as the use of renewable resources and “green” products. Biodegradability and low toxicity have led to the intensification of scientific studies on a wide range of industrial applications for biosurfactants in the field of bioremediation as well as the petroleum, food processing, health, chemical, agricultural and cosmetic industries. In this paper, we offer an extensive review regarding knowledge accumulated over the years and advances achieved in the incorporation of biomolecules in different industries.

Biosurfactants: Multifunctional Biomolecules of the 21st Century

The recent identification of one class of fluorinated surfactants in groundwater impacted by fire-fighting activity has created an awareness of the potential environmental issues resulting from the...

Perfluorinated Surfactants and the Environmental Implications of Their Use in Fire-Fighting Foams

https://repositorio.ufba.br/ri/bitstream/ri/9060/1/review-in-situ-bioremediation-OP-JHM2010.pdf

Review: In situ and bioremediation of organic pollutants in aquatic sediments

Surfactants form a unique class of chemical compounds. This review provides an introduction to the nature and physical properties of surfactants, emphasizing their ability to radically alter surface and interfacial properties and to self-associate and solubilize themselves in micelles. These properties provide the means to apply surfactants in wettability modification, detergency, and the displacement of liquid phases through porous media on one hand, and to stabilize dispersions (including foams, froths and emulsions), or to destabilize dispersions (again including foams and emulsions) on the other hand. These in turn lead to a vast array of practical application areas which are illustrated in terms of mineral and petroleum processing, biological systems, health and personal care products, foods, and crop protection.

http://www.beauty-review.nl/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Surfactants-and-their-applications.pdf

2 Surfactants and their applications

Because of the limitations of pump-and-treat technology, attention is now focused on the feasibility of surfactant use to increase its efficiency. Surfactants have been studied for use in soil washing and enhanced oil recovery. Although similarities exist between the applications, there are significant differences in the objectives of the technologies and the limitations placed on surfactant use. In this article we review environmental studies concerned with the fate and transport of surface-active compounds in the subsurface environment and discuss key issues related to their successful use for in situ aquifer remediation, particularly with respect to nonaqueous-phase liquids.

Candida C. West

Papers

Surfactants and subsurface remediation