In a bachelor's thesis from NTNU, two students have investigated how water affects microbial growth in biodegradable oils (EALs) compared to traditional mineral oils.
Norsk Oljelaboratorium AS ( Nolab ) was the client for the bachelor's thesis, where Rune Hatland and Martin Ingebrigtsvold contributed as co-supervisors.
– For us, it is important to be involved in supporting students and contributing to development. We would like to have more similar projects in the long term, and are available to students who want to use us. We are very satisfied with the work Eirik and Anders did in connection with this assignment, says Martin.
The study points out that EALs, which are often highlighted in the green shift, may be more susceptible to degradation when water enters the system.
“We see that bacteria can feed more easily on ester-based EALs than on mineral oils,” say Eirik Risebrobakken and Anders Solbakken, the students behind the thesis.
In the experiment, various water sources, including Brattørkaia and Gåsaparken in Trondheim, were used to study the growth of bacteria and fungi in oil samples. A total of 540 samples were analyzed, and in 72 of them, microbial growth was detected – most in the EAL samples.
"This shows that EALs may be more susceptible to biological degradation, and we must take this into account in future use. The thesis therefore forms a good basis for further research," the students say in their summary.
Read the full thesis here: https://ntnuopen.ntnu.no/ntnu-xmlui/handle/11250/3136988