Ethapolan: a new microbial exopolysaccharide for oil industry

Abstract

Ethapolan, a new high-viscous exopolysaccharide, was obtained in the course of microbial synthesis. Its chemical content and some characteristics of its solutions are explored in the present study. By its structure ethapolan may be considered a polysaccharide of xanthan type. More definitely, as compared to xanthan, the emulsifying efficiency and hydrophobic nature of ethapolan may be attributed to the presence of the fatty acids residues and to 6-desoxysaccharide—rhamnose residues. It was found that a few factors impact the increasing viscosity of ethapolan solutions: first, the presence of the cations; second, low shearing rates; and, finally, low pH values. Ethapolan is resistant to heating. On this basis, it may be concluded that ethapolan appears to be a universal and quite competitive microbial exopolysaccharide for the oil industry.