Preliminary Evaluation of the Dearomatization Capacity of Bacterial Isolates on a Renery Current (Light Cycle Oil)

Abstract

Light Cycle Oil (LCO) is a by-product of Fluidized Catalytic Fractionation (FCC) considered a poor-quality diesel due to its high content of sulfur (3 % by weight) and aromatic compounds (50-80 % by weight) which has been enhanced by i) aromatic saturation (ASAT), ii) mild hydrocracking, and iii) aromatic saturation followed by selective ring opening (SRO) of naphthenic structures. On the other hand, it have been reported that different bacterial genera degrade aromatic compounds in a simple and economical way. Consequently, in this work, the ability of bacterial isolates to degrade naphthalene and other aromatic compounds present in an LCO from the Puerto La Cruz refinery (Anzoátegui State-Venezuela) was evaluated. Using UV-Visible spectroscopy, a decrease in naphthalene present in the LCO was observed from 24 to 44 % approximately and by Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy, a decrease in aromatic compounds from 27 to 45 %. The results suggest that the bacterial isolates evaluated are capable of using the aromatic compounds present in the LCO as a source of carbon and energy, leaving their consequent effect on the quality of the LCO obtained to be evaluated.

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