Project guide: Dr. Sagar Kanekar, MIT-WPU
We isolated Halobacterium noricense from rock salt and cultured it in exopolysaccharide (EPS) production medium with varying concentrations of glucose to optimise EPS yield. After 96h incubation, we extracted crude EPS using centrifugation and ethanol precipitation, then purified it via dialysis and acid hydrolysis to remove salt impurities and break down complex sugars respectively. After lyophilisation, an EPS film with good water solubility was obtained. We also performed an oil dispersion assay using crude oil, demonstrating biosurfactant and bioemulsifier properties of EPS. Currently we are working on creating a small-scale simulation of simplified oil reservoir conditions to observe how effective EPS is at oil extraction under high pressure and temperature. I am co-authoring a manuscript for this project for the Engineering Microbiology journal.
