Heavy metals bioremediation - Brazil/Norway cooperation

Bioremediation is a waste management technique that involves the use of living organisms, mainly microorganisms, to detect, degrade or remove pollutants. Specifically, the wastewater produced from O&G installations and petrochemical plants is a key focus area due to strict regulation. Effluents needs treatment before being discharged, and while main strategies to date have focused on the pre-treatment, degradation and/or removal of PAHs, a more persistent problem is caused by heavy metals. To this effect , a concentrated effort has been initiated by combining leading expertise from Norway and Brazil with the aim of recovering heavy metals by the use of a novel bio-active solution. The starting point for the investigative effort is a protein with 1000x mo re affinity to heavy metals than any current solutions. Besides the environmental benefits stemming from removing and recovering heavy metals, the value proposition related to creating a secondary market for commercially valuable metals will be explored. Additionally, a more cost effective absorption method is likely to lead to changes in project economics - with the potential for additional tail end production and higher recovery factors as a result. As for the state-of-the-art, a series of chemical and physical methods exist - including adsorption on synthetic polymer compounds (e.g. activated carbon or alumina) which have limited contact surface, form non-specific weak bonds and quickly saturate their binding sites. Chemical precipitation, reverse osmosis and oxidation-reduction are technically difficult and costly. In terms of fit with the Petromaks2 program plan, the project has a natural link to theme 1 "Energy efficient and environmentally sustainable technologies" and theme 4 "Future technol ogies for production, processing and transport". Oil operator companies with onshore installations in Norway and Brazil are the main targets for securing financial support for a main R&D project.