Experimental Studies of In-Situ Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery

Jenneman, Gary E.; Knapp, R.M.; McInerney, Michael J.; Menzie, D.E.; Revus, D. E.

doi:10.2118/10789-pa

Cited by 115 publications

(61 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…High substrate loading and high pH promoted plug development (671). The residual oil remaining after water flooding is a potenial target for selective reservoir plugging of porous rocks with in situ bacterial growth on injected nutrients (195,289). Bacteria may exert a much greater plugging effect when they multiply within the reservoir rock rather than when they are injected and accumulate at the surface.…”

Section: Microbial Processes For Recovering and Upgrading Petroleum Mmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recent Advances in Petroleum Microbiology

Hamme¹,

Singh

Ward

2003

Microbiol Mol Biol Rev

1,195

640

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Recent advances in molecular biology have extended our understanding of the metabolic processes related to microbial transformation of petroleum hydrocarbons. The physiological responses of microorganisms to the presence of hydrocarbons, including cell surface alterations and adaptive mechanisms for uptake and efflux of these substrates, have been characterized. New molecular techniques have enhanced our ability to investigate the dynamics of microbial communities in petroleum-impacted ecosystems. By establishing conditions which maximize rates and extents of microbial growth, hydrocarbon access, and transformation, highly accelerated and bioreactor-based petroleum waste degradation processes have been implemented. Biofilters capable of removing and biodegrading volatile petroleum contaminants in air streams with short substrate-microbe contact times (<60 s) are being used effectively. Microbes are being injected into partially spent petroleum reservoirs to enhance oil recovery. However, these microbial processes have not exhibited consistent and effective performance, primarily because of our inability to control conditions in the subsurface environment. Microbes may be exploited to break stable oilfield emulsions to produce pipeline quality oil. There is interest in replacing physical oil desulfurization processes with biodesulfurization methods through promotion of selective sulfur removal without degradation of associated carbon moieties. However, since microbes require an environment containing some water, a two-phase oil-water system must be established to optimize contact between the microbes and the hydrocarbon, and such an emulsion is not easily created with viscous crude oil. This challenge may be circumvented by application of the technology to more refined gasoline and diesel substrates, where aqueous-hydrocarbon emulsions are more easily generated. Molecular approaches are being used to broaden the substrate specificity and increase the rates and extents of desulfurization. Bacterial processes are being commercialized for removal of H2S and sulfoxides from petrochemical waste streams. Microbes also have potential for use in removal of nitrogen from crude oil leading to reduced nitric oxide emissions provided that technical problems similar to those experienced in biodesulfurization can be solved. Enzymes are being exploited to produce added-value products from petroleum substrates, and bacterial biosensors are being used to analyze petroleum-contaminated environments

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Section: Microbial Processes For Recovering and Upgrading Petroleum Mmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recent Advances in Petroleum Microbiology

Hamme¹,

Singh

Ward

2003

Microbiol Mol Biol Rev

1,195

640

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“…Alkaline-Surfactant-Polymer flooding [29,30] is relatively a new method and is being evaluated by performing various laboratory investigations and field tests. The method utilizes mostly three chemical formulationspolymer, alkali and surfactant solutions.…”

Section: Asp Floodingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Application of Microbes for Recovery of Residual Crude Petroleum

Badruddin¹,

Singh²,

Pandey³

et al. 2017

Int.J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci

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“…Typical bacteria are Bacillus and Pseudomonas [30,33,39]. An advantage for Bacillus is that it is a facultative anaerobe adapted to reservoir conditions with higher temperature and salinity, and that it can produce surfactant both under aerobic and anaerobic conditions [6,64].…”

Section: Bacteriamentioning

confidence: 99%

Microbial enhanced oil recovery—a modeling study of the potential of spore-forming bacteria

2015

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Microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR) utilizes microbes for enhancing the recovery by several mechanisms, among which the most studied are the following: (1) reduction of oil-water interfacial tension (IFT) by the produced biosurfactant and (2) selective plugging by microbes and metabolic products. One of the ways of bacterial survival and propagation under harsh reservoir conditions is formation of spores. A model has been developed that accounts for bacterial growth, substrate consumption, surfactant production, attachment/filtering out, sporulation, and reactivation. Application of spore-forming bacteria is an advantageous novelty of the present approach. The mathematical setup is a set of 1D transport equations involving reactions and attachment. Characteristic sigmoidal curves are used to describe sporulation and reactivation in response to substrate concentrations. The role of surfactant is modification of the relative permeabilities by decreasing the interfacial tension. Attachment of bacteria reduces the pore space available for flow, i.e., the effective porosity and permeability. Clogging of specific areas may occur. An extensive study of the MEOR on the basis of the developed model has resulted in the following conclusions. In order to obtain sufficient local concentrations of surfactant, substantial amounts of substrate should be supplied; however, massive growth of bacteria increases the risk for clogging at the well inlet areas, causing injectivity loss. In such areas, starvation may cause sporulation, reducing the risk of clogging. Substrate released during sporulation can be utilized by attached vegetative bacteria and they will continue growing and producing surfactant, which prolongs the effect of the injected substrate. The simulation scenarios show that application of the spore-forming bacteria gives a higher total production of surfactant and the reduced risk of clogging, leading to an increased period of production and a higher oil recovery.

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Experimental Studies of In-Situ Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery

Cited by 115 publications

References 4 publications

Recent Advances in Petroleum Microbiology

Recent Advances in Petroleum Microbiology

Application of Microbes for Recovery of Residual Crude Petroleum

Microbial enhanced oil recovery—a modeling study of the potential of spore-forming bacteria

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