Oil Chemistry Research Articles

Ocotea(Lauraceae) Amazonian essential oils chemical composition and their tyrosinase inhibition to use in cosmetics

This study presents analyses on the chemistry, biology, pharmacology and chromatography of essential oils extracted from three species of the Ocotea genus: O. minor, O. ceanothifolia and O. leucoxylon. Leaves and stems, as well as the bark of O. minor, were processed using a modified Clevenger apparatus. Seven essential oils were obtained and analyzed using GC-FID and GC-MS, and their chemical compositions were determined. Assays of cytotoxicity, antioxidant and free radical scavenging activity, as well as tyrosinase and elastase inhibition were performed. In total, 25 constituents were identified, the principal being sesquiterpenes, such as spathulenol caryophyllene and its oxide. The oils did not present cytotoxicity using a hemolytic model, but also did not show antioxidant activity in the DPPH assay. Essential oil from stems of O. ceanothifolia, rich in spathulenol and caryophyllene oxide, demonstrated the capacity to inhibit 49.08% of tyrosinase activity at a concentration of 100 μg/mL. This research contributes to the chemical profile analysis of the three species of Ocotea through chemical investigations and biological activity, which are reported for the first time here in this study.

A Review on Multiphase Underwater Jets and Plumes: Droplets, Hydrodynamics, and Chemistry

AbstractJets and plumes have been the focus of quantitative investigations since the mid‐1950s. These investigations intensified following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, in which thousands of tons of oil and natural gas were released into the Gulf of Mexico. This review focuses on plume dynamics that apply to both single‐phase and multiphase liquid‐in‐liquid and liquid plus gas into liquid plumes, including bubble and droplet formation, and heat and mass transfer. Broadly, our work highlights several previously unknown or overlooked aspects of multiphase flow in the deep oceans. Upstream of the jet release, multiphase hydraulics can significantly affect the turbulence, for instance, through churn flow that enhances the turbulence in the free jet, affecting the conditions where bubbles and droplets are formed. Droplet formation was a major focus recently, with experiments covering a range of scales and flow rates of oil and gas at low and high pressure. Detailed observations of droplet formation at the jet‐water boundary reveal the formation of compound droplets, which are emulsions of oil and water with implications for mass conservation and mass transfer. At the plume scale, integral models have been adapted to include the complex thermodynamics and chemistry of oil and gas plumes. In parallel, significant advances were made in numerical simulations of multiphase plumes through large eddy simulations by treating the oil and gas either a continuous or discrete phase. Through this work, a vivid picture of the complex droplet, chemical, and hydrodynamic behavior of multiphase plumes in the ocean is emerging.

Chemistry, oxidative stability and bioactivity of oil extracted from Rosa rugosa (Thunb.) seeds by supercritical carbon dioxide

Rosa rugosa Thunb. seed oil (RR) extracted by supercritical CO2 was investigated. RR chemical composition, radical scavenging effect and oxidative stability were evaluated. RR aqueous emulsions were examined for cell cytotoxicity, proliferation, redox state and migration using mouse embryonic fibroblast Balb/3T3, human dermal fibroblast NHDF cell lines, and on neoplastic cell lines: acute monocytic leukemia THP-1 and lung adenocarcinoma A549. RR total contents of phytosterols, tocopherols, carotenoids and phenolics were 10115.23, 784.16, 40.32 and 10.30 mg/kg, respectively. Rich antioxidant composition of RR was reflected in its high antioxidant activity (2.1 mM/kg Trolox equivalent) as well as oxidative stability (activation energy 105.6 kJ/mol). The RR emulsions led to marked augmentation of the total cell protein content in BALB/3T3 and NHDF cultures, inhibited cancer cell migration and reduced ROS formation. The studied RR oil proved to have a remarkable combination of bioactive compounds and to exert an antioxidative and chemopreventive effects.

Comparing essential oils from Australia's ‘Victorian Christmas Bush’ (Prostanthera lasianthos Labill., Lamiaceae) to closely allied new species: Phenotypic plasticity and taxonomic variability

Prostanthera lasianthos (Lamiaceae) is commonly referred to as the ‘Victorian Christmas Bush’, a name that derives from the floral display it gives in the Christmas period. However, botanists recognise P. lasianthos as a heterogeneous species aggregate that includes several putative new species that are confined to disjunct locations. Recently one taxon was revised to P. eungella B.J.Conn & K.M.Proft. In the current study the chemistry of essential oils was determined for 25 specimens, representative of 8 taxa (including P. eungella). Chemical relationships were investigated using two types of multivariate analysis and several distinct chemical profiles were identified. One taxon (P. sp. Wollomombi Gorge) was sampled nine times from three different locations during the year to determine the effects of seasonal variation and subjectively-assessed soil moisture content. It was demonstrated that the chemistry of this taxon is strongly influenced by soil moisture independently of growth stage, but possibly influenced by periods of dry or wet weather. Two distinct chemotypes and one intermediate type were identified. These chemotypes differed by mediated expression of linalool and hence linalyl acetate. These metabolites were also present in specimens of P. sp. Bald Mountain, but as minor components. This latter taxon could be reliably distinguished by higher relative abundance of butanoic acid, 1-methylbutyl ester. As judged by a smaller sampling size for the other taxa, evidence that this pattern of mediated expression between terpene species was found. However, the identity of terpenes that demonstrated this mediated expression were different for each taxon; for example, volatiles from P. eungella demonstrated mediation between α-pinene and caryophyllene. Nevertheless, it is possible that chemical expression of all taxa in the heterogeneous species aggregate is strongly mediated by the moisture or nutrient content of soils. Thus, the dataset produced during this study can be used as a reference against other chemical data to investigate taxonomic placement in members of this group.

How lubricant formulations and properties influence the performance of rotorcraft transmissions under loss of lubrication conditions

Loss of lubrication (LOL) in a rotorcraft transmission causes erratic degradation of drivetrain components due to direct surface contact thereby increasing the frictional heat in the system. This article studies the ability of synthetic and mineral-based lubricating oils typically used in the aviation industry regarding their physical properties, chemical composition, and detailed chemical structure to extend the longevity of the rotorcraft transmissions in the event of LOL. The lubricating oils were subjected to boundary lubrication tests using a FZG gear test rig and two lab-scale tribometers, cylinder-on-ring and ball-on-disc. The results provide an enhanced ranking of the selected lubricating oils based on their load-carrying capacity and scuffing resistance under LOL conditions complemented by the consideration of the oil chemistry.

The first decade of scientific insights from the Deepwater Horizon oil release

The 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster remains the largest single accidental release of oil and gas into the ocean. During the 87-day release, scientists used oceanographic tools to collect wellhead oil and gas samples, interrogate microbial community shifts and activities, and track the chemical composition of dissolved oil in the ocean’s interior. In the decade since the disaster, field and laboratory investigations studied the physics and chemistry of irrupted oil and gas at high pressure and low temperature, the role of chemical dispersants in oil composition and microbial hydrocarbon degradation, and the impact of combined oil, gas and dispersants on the flora and fauna of coastal and deep-sea environments. The multi-faceted, multidisciplinary scientific response to the released oil, gas and dispersants culminated in a better understanding of the environmental factors that influence the short-term and long-term fate and transport of oil in marine settings. In this Review, we summarize the unique aspects of the Deepwater Horizon release and highlight the advances in oil chemistry and microbiology that resulted from novel applications of emerging technologies. We end with an outlook on the applicability of these findings to possible oil releases in future deep-sea drilling locations and newly-opened high-latitude shipping lanes. The Deepwater Horizon disaster was the largest accidental discharge of oil into the environment, and was intensely studied during and after the event. In this Review, the subsequent advances made in oil chemistry, dispersant application, and microbiology are discussed.

Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy of crude oil as proxies for oil source and thermal maturity based on 1H and 13C spectra

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) approach has unique advantages in the geochemical analysis of crude oil because it can provide information on chemical functional groups. Previous studies have focused on marine crude oils and investigated the interrelationship between the 1H spectra and physical properties of the oil. However, the organic geochemical significance of the comprehensive NMR information and its effectiveness for studying non-marine crude oil are still not clear. Here we investigated crude oil from the Eocene Shahejie Formation in the lacustrine Dongpu Sag, Bohai Bay Basin, China, with NMR techniques. Our results show that the NMR spectra of these crude oils provide important information on organic matter functional groups, including aliphatic hydrocarbons, cycloalkanes, aromatic hydrocarbons, and other structural types. The NMR parameters of the studied crude oils reliably reflect the source rock sedimentary environment, and organic matter source and thermal maturity. Comparatively, 1H and 13C NMR spectra are useful for evaluating organic matter source and thermal maturity, respectively. It was found that the organic matter that produced crude oil in the northern part of the basin is of better quality, and deposited in a higher-salinity and more reducing sedimentary environment, than in the south. The sedimentary environment in the central part of the basin reflects transitional characteristics with large variation. This complements our understanding of traditional organic (biomarker) geochemistry. Our data show that NMR parameters robustly reflect the chemistry of crude oil, particularly the composition of functional groups, and its geochemical application to studies of crude oil can be further expanded, from marine to non-marine, from 1H spectroscopy to 13C spectroscopy, and from physical property to geochemical characterization.

Composition Chemistry And Distribution to Quality of Essential Oil From Rhizome E.elatior and E.calophyris By Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS)

The composition chemistry and distribution of essential oil from the rhizome of two plants family Zingiberaceae is Etlingera species include E.elatior and E.calophyris from South East Sulawesi. The aim of this study is to determine the chemical composition of rhizomes two plants and compared the contain essential oils of the rhizome. The rhizome of the plants was extracted by hydrodistillation and analyzed was by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). The essential oils from rhizome E.elatior and E.calophyris had a different compound among, with 25 compounds for E.elatior and 27 compounds identified for E.calphyris. The rhizome of E.elatior had the highest yield essential oils are dodecanal (36,09 %) and Dodecanoic acid (15, 54 %) and rhizome of E.calophyris is n-Decanal (34, 09 %) and Dodecanoic acid (14,5 %) into the mayor compound. While the compound minor for E.elatior had the highest 2-Undecanon (0,61%) and 2-Tridicanon (0,51 %) and E.calophyris is (-) Caryophyllene oxide (0,95 %) and 2-Undecanon (0,71%).

APPLICATION OF THE LINEARITY PRINCIPLE IN THE STRUCTURING OF OIL AND GAS CHEMISTRY TEXTBOOK

In the article, the author raises the issue of developing a manual on the chemistry of oil and gas for students of engineering specialties at the Oil and Gas University. The author presented an analysis of existing textbooks in various disciplines and highlighted their shortcomings, which provided a basis for describing his author's approach to the content of the manual. The presented manual is a combination of theoretical and practical parts of educational material, the selection and structuring of educational information was based on the principle of linearity, namely, a block system of presentation of the material. The proposed structure made it possible to study educational information for students in the form of blocks that are independent of each other, the tasks do not require knowledge of the previous block, which has shown its effectiveness in teaching students of correspondence courses.

The Chemistry of Olive Oil: an endless story

Because of their value, Olive oils, undergo to several attempts of adulteration and this improved the performances of analytical methods developed to check their authenticity. After the eve of the “Chemistry of indexes”, the development of separation techniques greatly improved the knowledge of the composition of lipids; the earlier gas chromatographic separations of fatty acid, could last even more than 40 minutes and the evaluation of minor fatty acids were problematic, at Bologna University, their previous separation on silver nitrate silica gel TLC was applied in 1974–1975, in order to concentrate them and obtain a better chromatogram. The gas chromatographic evaluation of minor compounds was another interesting challenge, packed columns with apolar stationary phase, admit the separation of few peaks; in 1975, the use of a slightly more polar stationary phase (OV17) highlighted the presence of Δ-5-avenasterol in olive oils. 1981 is a milestone for olive oil analytical control: Regulation (CEE) 2568/91 made the use of capillary columns mandatory. Official analytical methods consider many parameters, enclosed sensory evaluation, that is not matter for chemists, however, chemists are moved by curiosity and several papers had been published on the relationship between the volatile compounds of head space of olive oil and sensory characteristics. Despite being one of the more studied food, olive oils’ composition continues to give the chemists the possibility to discover new compounds, e.g. degradation products of sterols that leads to the standardization of the method for sterenes evaluation. From 1973 to nowadays, the laboratory performances greatly improved, nowadays it is possible to generate a huge number of data in a short time, then the problem is how to correctly interpretate them, surely chemometric and lipidomic greatly can help.

Ocotea porosa: Anatomy and Histochemistry of Leaves and Stems, Chemical Composition, Cytotoxicity and Insecticidal Activities of Essential Oil

Abstract Ocotea porosa (Nees & Mart.) Barroso, commonly known as “imbuia”, “canela-imbuia” or “imbuia-amarela” in Brazil, is a tree of the Southern Atlantic Forest. The present study investigates the anatomy of leaf and stem, volatile oil chemistry, as well as cytotoxicity and insecticidal activities of the essential oil of O. porosa. Species identification was achieved by anatomy features, mainly due to paracytic and anomocytic stomata; non-glandular trichomes; biconvex midrib and petiole with a collateral open arc vascular bundle; presence of a sclerenchymatous layer, starch grains and crystal sand in the stem; and the presence of phenolic compounds in the epidermis, phloem and xylem of the midrib, petiole and stem. The main volatile components of the essential oil were α-pinene (19.71%), β-pinene (13.86%) and bicyclogermacrene (24.62%). Cytotoxicity against human cancer cell (MCF-7), mouse cancer cell (B16F10) and mouse non-tumoral cell (McCoy) was observed as well as insecticidal activity of the essential oil against susceptible ‘Ft. Dix’ bed bugs (Cimex lectularius L.) by topical application.

ГЕОДЕЗИЧЕСКАЯ ИНФОРМАЦИЯ В СИСТЕМЕ АВТОМАТИЗИРОВАННОГО ТЕХНИЧЕСКОГО ОБЕСПЕЧЕНИЯ И РЕМОНТОВ

Two years ago, at the Pavlodar oil chemistry refinery LLP, as part of the modernization of the production process, an automated system for maintenance and repair of equipment (PM) was introduced. This system, consisting of several subsystems, made it possible to monitor the workflow, monitor many production cycles, compile statistics on the performance of various production tasks, identify problematic zones, and also pre-predict the failure of a particular equipment, calculate problematic zones. However, the process of expanding the system of functional maintenance does not stand still. Currently, as part of the digitalization of the production process, the plant is implementing a project to create a 3D master plan for the plant. The article describes in detail the process of phased creation of a digital spatial model and its relationship with the automated control system for maintenance and repair of equipment. One of the main stages of creating a three-dimensional model is described in detail – the process of obtaining high-precision geodetic measurements to create a geodetic base, field work, and the creation of a plan-height justification. The methodology of laser scanning, the process of processing the obtained data, modeling and filling the digital model with attributive data is described. Today it is difficult to dispute the importance of introducing digital spatial modeling in production and the main role in the success of these innovative projects is played by correctly received, processed and implemented initial data in the model. Thus, geodetic support is a key step in the complex technological process of creating a digital spatial double or 3D model of the plant and its operation in the maintenance system.

A Review on the Factors Affecting the Deposition, Retention, and Biodegradation of Oil Stranded on Beaches and Guidelines for Designing Laboratory Experiments

The distribution and persistence of oil within the matrix of a beach depends on the oil and beach properties, the presence of fines in the water column, and beach hydrodynamics and biochemistry. In this review, we attempted to provide an assessment of the journey of oil from offshore oil spills until it deposits within beaches. In particular, we addressed the disparity of spatial scales between microscopic processes, such as the formation of oil particle aggregates and oil biodegradation, and large-scale forcings, such as the tide. While aerobic biodegradation can remove more than 80% of the oil mass from the environment, its rate depends on the pore water concentration of oxygen and nutrients, both of them vary across the beach and with time. For this reason, we discussed in details the methods used for measuring water properties in situ and ex situ. We also noted that existing first-order decay models for oil biodegradation are expedient, but might not capture impacts of water chemistry on oil biodegradation. We found that there is a need to treat the beach–nearshore system as one unit rather than two separate entities. Scaling down large-scale hydrodynamics requires a coarser porous medium in the laboratory. Unfortunately, this implies that microscopic-scale processes cannot be reproduced in such a setup, and one needs a separate system for simulating small-scale processes. Our findings of large spatio-temporal variability in pore-water properties suggest that major advancements in addressing oil spills on beaches require holistic approaches that combine hydrodynamics with biochemistry and oil chemistry.

Condition monitoring of in-service oil-filled transformers: Case studies and experience

Transformers are one of the most strategic components in balancing the voltage levels and hence a high priority is given to their performance [1]. It is established that, insulation technology plays a critical role in judging the performance and service life in oil filled apparatus [2]. Performance of the insulation system depends mainly on the deterioration behavior of insulation oil and paper. The mechanisms that are responsible for premature aging of oil/paper insulation are almost the same in all the oil filled apparatus. Yet, there will be a significant difference in the intensity of the aging mechanisms in different apparatus. This intensity is attributable to rating, design, and duration of operation for different machines. The detailed discussions on these mechanisms are presented in the subsequent sections of this paper. However, aging of service insulants is unavoidable and is to be maintained at a lower rate or arrested to the greatest possible extent, such that, catastrophic failures and unscheduled outages may be mitigated [3]. Normally, utilities follow scheduled condition monitoring activities to avoid the consequences of premature aging. Hence, knowledge on these in-service condition monitoring activities will be helpful in understanding the exact deterioration rate of the insulation system. Real time in-service experience of several transformer fleets that belong to United Kingdom utilities are reported in [4]. An early degradation of insulation is noticed through increase in acidity and furan concentration in oil for several transformers in the fleet. Authors investigated this early degradation in different perspectives including loading conditions, manufacturers, and oil chemistry changes. It is inferred that changes in oil chemistry is an important attribute for early degradation and hence utilities are advised to adopt different asset management strategies for affected and unaffected transformers in a fleet. Recently, failure rate data of service aged transformer fleets of an Australian utility were analyzed to establish the relationship between aging and different failure types [5]. It is noticed that degradation of the insulation system will be rapid after 20 years of service aging thus entailing the frequent condition monitoring activities after 20 years to identify premature aging failures.

Volatiles from African species of Croton (Euphorbiaceae), including new diterpenes in essential oil from Croton gratissimus

The chemistry of essential oils from the leaves of three African species of Croton (C. gratissimus, C. pseudopulchellus and C. sylvaticus) is comprehensively characterised. Two new volatile diterpenes were isolated from C. gratissimus and the structures assigned using 1D and 2D NMR. One is a furanyl-halimane methyl ester (1) assigned as 12-β-furanyl-halima-5,9-dien-4-methylcarboxylate (gratissihalimanoic ester); the other is an abietane ketone (2) assigned as ent-abiet-8(14), 13(15)-dien-3-one, which we have named gratissimone. High relative abundance of diterpenes in a hydrodistilled essential oil is rare and may be considered an interesting discovery. Known non-volatile diterpenes were also isolated, which were assigned as crotohalimaneic acid (3) and hardwickiic acid (4). All diterpenes occur in fresh leaves prior to distillation and extract into apolar or moderately polar solvents, which demonstrates that the two volatiles are not generated during the hydrodistillation. At this stage it is not clear how widespread this diterpene essential oil chemotype is within the species distribution or if any therapeutic effects can be attributed to them. No antimicrobial activity was observed at 1 mg/ml against a range of bacterial strains.

Bio-crude oil from hydrothermal liquefaction of wastewater microalgae in a pilot-scale continuous flow reactor

To explore the feasibility of scaling up hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) of algal biomass, a pilot-scale continuous flow reactor (CFR) was operated to produce bio-crude oil from algal biomass cultivated in urban wastewater. The CFR system ran algal slurry (5 wt.% solids loading) at 350 °C and 17 MPa for 4 h without any clogging issues. Bio-crude oil chemistry was characterized by high-resolution Fourier transform mass spectroscopy (FT-MS), proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H NMR), bomb calorimetry, and elemental analysis. Bio-crude oil yield of 28.1 wt% was obtained with higher heating values of 38–39 MJ/kg. The quality of light bio-crude oil produced from the CFR system was comparable in terms of molecular structures to bio-crude oil produced in a batch reactor.

Conspecific olfactory preferences and interspecific divergence in odor cues in a chickadee hybrid zone.

Understanding how mating cues promote reproductive isolation upon secondary contact is important in describing the speciation process in animals. Divergent chemical cues have been shown to act in reproductive isolation across many animal taxa. However, such cues have been overlooked in avian speciation, particularly in passerines, in favor of more traditional signals such as song and plumage. Here, we aim to test the potential for odor to act as a mate choice cue, and therefore contribute to premating reproductive isolation between the black‐capped (Poecile atricapillus) and Carolina chickadee (P. carolinensis) in eastern Pennsylvania hybrid zone populations. Using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry, we document significant species differences in uropygial gland oil chemistry, especially in the ratio of ester to nonester compounds. We also show significant preferences for conspecific over heterospecific odor cues in wild chickadees using a Y‐maze design. Our results suggest that odor may be an overlooked but important mating cue in these chickadees, potentially promoting premating reproductive isolation. We further discuss several promising avenues for future research in songbird olfactory communication and speciation.

An overview of the oil-brine interfacial behavior and a new surface complexation model

The few existing surface complexation models (SCM) for the brine-oil interface have important limitations: the chemistry of each crude oil is not considered, they cannot capture the water/non-polar hydrocarbons surface charge, the interactions between Na+ and the acid sites are not included, and the equilibrium constants for the adsorption reactions are not validated against experimental data. We address the aforementioned constraints by proposing an improved diffuse-layer SCM for the oil-brine interface. The new model accounts for the chemistry of crude oils by considering surface sites linearly dependent on the TAN (total acid number) and TBN (total base number). We define weak sites to account for the negative surface charge observed for non-polar hydrocarbons in water. We optimize the parameters of our model by fitting the model to reported zeta potential measurements of oil in aqueous solutions. When we validate the optimized model against different experimental data sets, it generally shows a good performance in predicting the surface charge of oil in different brines with different pHs. We show that the acid and base numbers are only useful as a qualitative estimation of the distribution of polar groups at the oil surface, and more sophisticated analysis is necessary to quantify the chemistry of the oil-brine interface.

New model of managerial education in technical university

Purpose A modern trend in the educational environment in recent years has been the permanent education system with the involvement of online study modes. It is based on multidisciplinarity and adaptivity of educational technologies, starting with the basic level of education – bachelor’s degree, and ending with gaining competences in the field of engineering and economics throughout the whole professional life of a student. The purpose of this paper is to perform a detailed analysis of development of permanent education in Russian universities, focusing on statistical data on popularity of jobs as to professional groups among employers and determining peculiarities of permanent education, based on the distinguished peculiarities of permanent education and requirements of business to develop a model of engineering and managerial education that would integrate two blocks of the educational process – engineering and economic, as well as include modern technologies of teaching. Design/methodology/approach The authors propose the modern model of engineering management education that is implemented in the Russian technical universities. Its distinctive feature as compared to the conventional educational technologies is gaining competences in the field of economics and management at the same time with engineering education at the second stage of education – the master’s program. The proposed model of engineering and management education results in obtainment of two diplomas by the student who is awarded with a master’s degree in engineering and a master’s degree in economics. A difference of the offered model from the traditional educational technologies is obtaining competences in the sphere of economics and management together with engineering education at the master’s program. The result of the offered model of engineering and managerial education is graduate’s receiving two diplomas with master’s degree of engineer and master of economics. The paper shows the existing mechanism of implementing the model of engineering and economic education in a technical university by the example of the master’s program in Economics “Evaluation of economic risks during technological decisions (in oil processing and oil chemistry).” Findings The offered model of engineering and managerial education will allow training the engineers of a new type, who will be able to adapt to new tendencies and initiate the changes that are necessary for effective functioning of business in the conditions of digital economy. Originality/value The offered model of engineering and managerial education should be acknowledged as an innovational educational project that raises demand for graduates through their adaptability to employer’s needs and their usage of new tools of management that are based on exchange of information data and that form managerial task for information provision of the process of decision making and their further execution.

Combining electrokinetic transport and bioremediation for enhanced removal of crude oil from contaminated marine sediments: Results of a long-term, mesocosm-scale experiment

Marine sediments represent an important sink of harmful petroleum hydrocarbons after an accidental oil spill. Electrobioremediation techniques, which combine electrokinetic transport and biodegradation processes, represent an emerging technological platform for a sustainable remediation of contaminated sediments. Here, we describe the results of a long-term mesocosm-scale electrobioremediation experiment for the treatment of marine sediments contaminated by crude oil. A dimensionally stable anode and a stainless-steel mesh cathode were employed to drive seawater electrolysis at a fixed current density of 11 A/m2. This approach allowed establishing conditions conducive to contaminants biodegradation, as confirmed by the enrichment of Alcanivorax borkumensis cells harboring the alkB-gene and other aerobic hydrocarbonoclastic bacteria. Oil chemistry analyses indicated that aromatic hydrocarbons were primarily removed from the sediment via electroosmosis and low molecular weight alkanes (nC6 to nC10) via biodegradation.