Gemstone Team Research

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/9070

The Gemstone Program at the University of Maryland is a unique multidisciplinary four-year research program for selected undergraduate honors students of all majors. Under guidance of faculty mentors and Gemstone staff, teams of students design, direct and conduct significant research, often but not exclusively exploring the interdependence of science and technology with society. Gemstone students are members of a living-learning community comprised of fellow students, faculty and staff who work together to enrich the undergraduate experience. This community challenges and supports the students in the development of their research, teamwork, communication and leadership skills. In the fourth year, each team of students presents its research in the form of a thesis to experts, and the students complete the program with a citation and a tangible sense of accomplishment.

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Author: search.filters.author.Abolafia, Julia

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    Using Enzymatic Combinations to Reduce Asphaltene Aggregation
    (2018) Abolafia, Julia; Cowan, Jack; Harrison, Anna; Hensley, Jackson; Kim, Danme; Ko, Wing-Mei; Le, Megan; Manivannan, Hema; Rivera Rubio, Lorena; Sarker, Prateeti; Tyagi, Radhika; Das, Siddhartha
    Team BACTERIA’s research aims to determine an optimal mixture of enzymes produced by fungi that would effectively reduce asphaltene aggregation in heavy crude oil, also known as bitumen. One of the biggest challenges associated with handling heavy crude oil is the asphaltene aggregation, which leads to a spontaneous flocculation that causes clogging of the pipelines. The key to impede the flocculation is preventing the formation of the asphaltene nanoaggregation by reducing the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) within the asphaltene. Conventional methods of asphaltene de-flocculation utilize chemicals that are both energy-intensive and expensive, while a biological method can improve the sustainability of heavy crude oil refinement. In this study, extensive experiments were conducted to determine whether the enzymes laccase and chloroperoxidase reduced flocculation by oxygenation, thereby reducing PAHs and increasing the oxygen-containing functional groups. A combination of these enzymes was also tested to determine whether the combination of enzymes would be more effective at degrading asphaltene than the individual enzymes. Enzymatic treatment of asphaltene demonstrated a significant reduction in flocculation when compared to untreated asphaltene, but the combination of laccase and chloroperoxidase did not exhibit a significant reduction in flocculation when compared to the individual enzymes. Based on the results of the flocculation tests and FTIR analysis, the team provided for the first time an example mechanism of the chemical pathways of such enzyme-mediated asphaltene degradation. This research, therefore, offers possibly the first comprehensive and systematic investigation of the technique of enzyme-mediated asphaltene oxygenation and degradation.