How can bacteria help keep ships clean?
Ship bilge water is a mixture of seawater and waste liquids such as fuels, detergents, solid particles and oils. Dumping oil residues into marine environments is prohibited by maritime regulations and EU legislation. The EU-funded ElectroSAnMBR project developed a novel bilge cleaning tool that combines electrolysis with an anaerobic bioreactor to efficiently remove 75 % of problem chemicals in 12 days. The project has now been featured in the new CORDIS series of explanatory videos titled Make the Connection. The system uses encapsulated bacteria to protect them from the effects of chemicals in the bilge water. The e-SAnMBR is small enough to be installed on vessels to pre-treat bilge water, reducing the volume that requires expensive off-shore treatment. “Happily, we found that adding the Microbial Electrolysis Cell (MEC) to the sludge enabled the bioreactor to produce the hydrogen and oxygen needed for micro-aerobic conditions, accelerating the biodegradation of recalcitrant compounds,” Ioannis Vyrides, project coordinator. Find out more about ElectroSAnMBR. ‘Make the connection with EU-science’ is a series of explanatory videos focusing on the scientific content and exploitation aspects of EU research projects.
Keywords
ElectroSAnMBR, bioreactor, biodegradation, bilge, ship, methanogens, microorganism, hydrogen, methane, electrolysis cell, biomass