Bioaugmentation is a great way to clean up the environment naturally. One challenge is that elevated temperatures may slow down or destroy the beneficial bacteria added to digest waste contaminants. For this reason, Bionetix® recently tested one of its key bacteria strains to evaluate its performance at temperatures up to 50 °C (122 °F).
Test Procedure
Bionetix® selected a product primarily designed to degrade petroleum products in a water environment, but which contains a bacteria strain representative of many Bionetix® biologicals. The laboratory tested the product on triplicate plates of TSA (trypticase soy agar), leaving them to incubate overnight at three temperatures—35 °C (95 °F), 45 °C (113 °F), and 50 °C (122 °F). After 17 hours, the lab counted and compared the number of colonies on each plate. It was found that the colonies continued to grow at all three temperatures. Growth in colony size was faster at higher temperatures, while the average number of colonies decreased.
Test Conclusions
The test confirmed that, while 25-35 °C (77-95 °F) remains the optimal growth temperature for most Bionetix® bacteria, the microorganisms remain functional at temperatures up to 50 °C (122 °F). Although many wastewater applications do not reach this temperature, some oil and gas wastewater processing environments (e.g., thermophilic anaerobic digesters) do. While many other factors such as food, pH, and nutrients also affect bacterial growth, this test lends confidence to users considering Bionetix® bioaugmentation in similar environments. If that environment sounds like yours, contact Bionetix® today to start a bioaugmentation trial in your high temp application!
Keywords: Bionetix test data, environmental cleanup, bacterial growth in high temperatures, how fast do bacteria grow, bioaugmentation, bioaugmentation in wastewater treatment, oil and gas wastewater, oil and gas wastewater disposal, beneficial bacteria for oil and gas, Bionetix
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