High temperature utilization of PAM and HPAM by microbial communities enriched from oilfield produced water and activated sludge

Non-hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (PAM) and partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (HPAM) are commonly used polymers in various industrial applications, including in oil and gas production operations. Understanding the microbial utilization of such polymers can contribute to improved recovery processes and help to develop technologies for polymer remediation. Microbial communities enriched from oilfield produced water (PW) and activated sludge from Alberta, Canada were assessed for their ability to utilize PAM and HPAM as nitrogen and carbon sources at 50 °C. Microbial growth was determined by measuring CO(2) production, and viscosity changes and amide concentrations were used to determine microbial utilization of the polymers. The highest CO(2) production was observed in incubations wherein HPAM was added as a nitrogen source for sludge-derived enrichments. Our results showed that partial deamination of PAM and HPAM occurred in both PW and sludge microbial cultures after 34 days of incubation. Whereas viscosity changes were not observed in cultures when HPAM or PAM was provided as the only carbon source, sludge enrichment cultures amended with HPAM and glucose showed significant decreases in viscosity. 16S rRNA gene sequencing analysis indicated that microbial members from the family Xanthomonadaceae were enriched in both PW and sludge cultures amended with HPAM or PAM as a nitrogen source, suggesting the importance of this microbial taxon in the bio-utilization of these polymers. Overall, our results demonstrate that PAM and HPAM can serve as nitrogen sources for microbial communities under the thermophilic conditions commonly found in environments such as oil and gas reservoirs. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s13568-019-0766-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.