%0 Journal Article
%T Fungal Deterioration of Used and Unused Synthetic Crankcase Oils
%J Frontiers in Environmental Microbiology
%@ 2469-8067
%D 2018
%X Crankcase oils are essential to the smooth running of any engine. Like most hydrocarbon derivatives, their composition leaves them susceptible to attack by biodeteriogens especially fungi. Furthermore, these oils are disposed of indiscriminately inadvertently ending up in soil and sometimes groundwater. The biodeterioration of used and unused synthetic crankcase oils by fungi was studied in order to facilitate better management of spoilage both prior to use and within the engine and to pinpoint possible remediative agents. Used samples consisted of oils that had been in use within car engines for four months or more while unused samples were bought from the local store. The crankcase oils studied were Lenoil GTX SAE 15W/40, Lenoil GLX SAE 20W/50 and National X-100 SAE 40. Isolation from the oil samples was done using Potato Dextrose agar via the pour plate technique while mineral salt agar containing the test oil as the sole carbon source was used to assess fungal utilisers. The accumulated fungal biomass was determined following a 30 day incubation period. The fungi found to contaminate and grow in synthetic crankcase oils were Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, Fusarium sporotrichioides and Trichoderma harzianum. Each organism had a different growth pattern and the same organism grew at different rates on different oil samples over the same period. National X-100 SAE 40 oil fared better overall than Lenoil GTX SAE 15W/40 and Lenoil GLX SAE 20W/50 being the least susceptible to fungal utilisation. Used oil types was more prone to fungal attack than the unused oils. Fusarium sporotrichioides dominated in used oil samples while Aspergillus niger dominated in unused samples. Used oil samples showed both greater counts and greater biomass accumulation compared to the unused samples. This study showed that fungi are capable of contaminating and deteriorating synthetic crankcase oils. The use of antifungal agents is recommended to combat their activities where unwanted. These fungi could also be used extensively in the bioremediation of soil contaminated with crankcase oils
%K Biodeterioration
%K Bioremediation
%K Crankcase Oil
%K Fungi
%K Lubricant
%K Pollution
%U http://www.sciencepublishinggroup.com/journal/paperinfo?journalid=384&doi=10.11648/j.fem.20180401.12