effect of microbial treatment on the prevention and removal of paraffin deposits on stainless steel surfaces

in this study, biosurfactant-producing strain n2 and non-biosurfactant producing stain kb18 were used to investigate the effects of microbial treatment on the prevention and removal of paraffin deposits on stainless steel surfaces. strain n2, with a biosurfactant production capacity, reduced the contact angle of stainless steel to 40.04°, and the corresponding adhesion work of aqueous phase was decreased by 26.5 mj/m². by contrast, kb18 could only reduce the contact angle to 50.83°, with a corresponding 7.6 mj/m² decrease in the aqueous phase work adhesion. the paraffin removal test showed that the paraffin removal efficiencies of strain n2 and kb18 were 79.0% and 61.2%, respectively. interestingly, the n2 cells could attach on the surface of the oil droplets to inhibit droplets coalescence. these results indicate that biosurfactant-producing strains can alter the wettability of stainless steel and thus eliminate paraffin deposition.