ChE Tulsa University

Dr. Kerry L. Sublette

Professor of Chemical Engineering

Director of Center for Environmental Research and Technology

Email: kerry-sublette@utulsa.edu

Research Emphasis

• Biological treatment of hazardous waste
• Biomimetic systems for hazardous waste treatment
• Bioremediation of petroleum hydrocarbons
• Microbial enhancement of oil recovery
• Dehydration of crude oil.

Research

is a primary research topic for Professor Sublette. There are several genera of microorganisms that are capable of using the oxidation of sulfides as a means of producing energy for growth. Professor Sublette has exploited one of these genera, the Thiobacilli, to develop a microbial process for the removal and oxidation of sulfides from natural gas, water coproduced with petroleum (sour water), and certain refinery waste streams such as spent sufidic caustics. Spent sulfidic caustics have a pH greater than 13 and contain 2-3 wt% sulfides, yet they can be biotreated. These processes have all been successfully tested as the bench and pilot scales and the sour water treatment process has been successfully field tested at full scale. This field test was one of the first successful applications of bioaugmention for bioremediation in the United States. This work is funded by various major oil companies.

Passive remediation

is the term applied to the anoxic or micraerophilic biodegradation of hydrocarbons in the subsurface. Professor Sublette's group is investigating the mechanisms responsible for the biodegradation of petroleum hydrocarbons in the absence of oxygen or at very low oxygen concentrations. Of primary interest are the alternative electron acceptors that will support biodegradation of these compounds. The goal of this research is the development of methodology for in situ remediation of petroleum-contaminated soil. This research is funded by the Department of Energy and the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency. 

Selected Publications

• Rajganesh, B.; Sublette, K. L.; Camp, C.; and Richardson, M. R., "Biotreatment of Refinery Spent-sulfidic Caustic," Biotechnology Progress, 11 (1995): 228-230.
• Selvaraj, P. T. and Sublette, Kerry L., "An Economic Analysis of Microbial Reduction of Sulfur Dioxide with Anaerobically Digested Sewage Biosolids as Electron Donor", Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology, 57/58 (1996): 1003-1012.
• Barker, G. W., Raterman, K. T., Fisher, J. B., Trent, G. L., Brown, D. R., Kemp, N. and Sublette, K. L., "A Case Study of the Natural Attenuation of Gas Condensate Hydrocarbons in Soil and Groundwater", Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology, 57/58(1996): 791-802 .
• McInerney, M. J. and Sublette, K. L., "Petroleum Microbiology: Biofouling, Souring, and Improved Oil Recovery", (Chapter 65) in Manual of Environmental Microbiology, C J. Hurst, G. R. Knudsen, M. J. McInerney, L. D. Stezenbach and M. V. Walter (Eds), American Society of Microbiology Press, Washington, D.C. (1996).
• Lawlor, K., Sublette, K. L., Duncan, K., Levetin, E., Buck, P., Wells, H., Jennings, E., Hettenback, S., Bailey, S., Fisher, J. B. and Todd, T., “Long-term Effects of Crude Oil Contamination and Bioremediation in a Soil Ecosystem”, Bioremediation Journal, 1, 41-51 (1997).

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