EFFECT OF TEMPERATURE ON THE POPULATION OF HYDROCARBON DEGRADING BACTERIA IN PALM OIL MILL EFFLUENT

EFFECT OF TEMPERATURE ON THE POPULATION OF HYDROCARBON DEGRADING BACTERIA IN PALM OIL MILL EFFLUENT

ABSTRACT

The aim of this work is to determine the effect of temperature on the population of hydrocarbon degrading bacteria in palm oil mill effluent. This was done at the Department of Microbiology, University of Abuja, Abuja, F.C.T Abuja, Nigeria, between June 2015 and August 2015. Samples of POME were inoculated with Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus subtilis, Klebsiella and Staphylococcus aureus. Microbial growth was measured by determining the total viable counts in the medium containing POME and control. The isolates were analyzed for the population of bacteria at temperatures 4 0C, 350C and 400C with incubation periods after 24 hours, 7days and 14days. Analysis of variance of POME isolates shows that there is no significant difference
between the time of incubation and temperature since P- Value (0.159) > α (0.05) for time and P- Value (0.145) > α (0.05) for temperature. ANOVA for control isolates shows that there is significant difference between incubation period of 24 hours, 7days and 14days since p- Value < α (0.05). The highest bacteria population was recorded after the 7th day of incubation at 350C from Pseudomonas aeruginosa 1.66 x 108 ± 0.6 to Klebsiella 1.27 x 108 ± 0.6.

CHAPTER ONE

1.1 INTRODUCTION

Palm oil is one of the most important vegetable oil in the world’s oil fat market. The extraction and purification processes generate different kinds of wastes generally known as palm oil mill effluent (POME).The biode gradation of hydrocarbons by microorganisms has become the main mechanism for eliminating palm oil and petroleum derived pollution in the environment. Palm oil mill effluent is waste water generated from palm oil milling activities which requires effective treatment before discharge into water course because of its highly polluting properties (Phaik et al., 2010). The raw effluents contain 90% – 95% water and include residual oil, soil particles and suspended solids (Phaik et al., 2010). The techniques of biological control over hydrocarbon based pollutants is a promising new technology, thanks to its low cost and absence of secondary contamination (Vasudevan and Rajaram, 2001; Agnieszka and Zofia,
2010).

EFFECT OF TEMPERATURE ON THE POPULATION OF HYDROCARBON DEGRADING BACTERIA IN PALM OIL MILL EFFLUENT