1. BTEXterminator Presented by: Christine M. Muñoz
Mentor: Dr. Karen Wawrousek
College: College of Engineering and Applied Sciences
Department: Chemical Engineering

2. Background Chemical Engineering major Minor: Pre-Med
Internship with Encana Oil & Gas last summer
Drilling team
Insight into the needs of the industry
Water

3. Scope of the Project Senior Capstone a.k.a. Senior Design
My team: Product Design
Sought to design Genetically Modified Organism that could reach unmet need of water management in petroleum industry

4. Industry Lingo
Three phases of a well: Drilling, Completion, and Production
My focus: Completion (fracking) and Production (the typical pump-jack most people think of)
Reservoir: anything down hole
Produced water: water existing in the reservoir that is forced to surface due to Completion and Production phases
Common components: hydrocarbons (aromatic and straight chained), salts, metals, & reservoir bacteria

5. BTEXterminator Background
Co-culture of two strains of Pseudomonas putida
BTE1
TX1
Naturally degrades aromatic hydrocarbons through TOL & TOD pathways
BTEX
Benzene
Toluene
Ethylbenzene
Xylene

6. BTEXterminator BTE1 TOD Pathway TX1 TOL Pathway
Genetic modification with TOD plasmid
Genetic modification with TOL plasmid
Modified BTE1
TOD & TOL
Modified TX1
TOD & TOL
BTEXterminator co-culture

7. Lab Work
Research lab where degradation rate derived sent BTE1 and TX1 strains of P. putida to our lab
Grew bacteria in Caso Agar (enriched medium) to characterize bacteria
Inoculated medium
Sterile medium

8. Disposal of Produced Water
To date: disposal in earthen pit, Salt Water Disposal Well (SWD), or re-used in next frac-job
At least 1/3 of well cost to operator
Stricter regulations anticipated
BTEX levels in produced water
SWD becoming less popular solution
BTEXterminator can meet need of water disposal
Bioremediation more popular
Can reuse for operations or sell it for agriculture

9. Use of BTEXterminator BTEXterminator Fibrous Bed Bioreactor
Reference:
Fibrous Bed Bioreactor

10. Economics

11. Broader Impact & Permitting
Anticipate stricter regulations
Push in major plays for agricultural reuse
Political climate plays a role
Public perception
Genetically modified foods
Environmental discharge
Powder River Basin-meet WYPDES standards for BTEX levels

12. Future Work Degradation rate for each strain and co-culture
Characterize behavior of product in starvation conditions
Viability in produced water
Salt & metal tolerance
Analyze interactions between reservoir bacteria and product
Aeration
Immobilization material
Different modifications
Alternative bacteria
Plasmids to aid in viability in produced water

13. Thank You!
Questions?