Kinetic investigation of microbial souring in porous media using microbial consortia from oil reservoirs

Chen, Ching-I; Reinsel, Mark A.; Mueller, Robert F.

doi:10.1002/bit.260440302

Cited by 29 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Oil reservoir hydrogen sulfide production (commonly referred to as souring) poses health risks to workers and is estimated to cost the petroleum industry billions of dollars per year (Chen et al, 1994) due to lowered hydrocarbon quality and increased infrastructure maintenance related to corrosion (Gieg et al, 2011). Sulfide-producing microorganisms (SPM) are responsible for much of the sulfides in produced oil and gas fluids, especially after water injection has begun to enhance oil recovery, yet not all reservoirs undergoing secondary recovery produce measurable sulfides.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temperature and injection water source influence microbial community structure in four Alaskan North Slope hydrocarbon reservoirs

Piceno

Reid²,

Tom³

et al. 2014

Front. Microbiol.

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A fundamental knowledge of microbial community structure in petroleum reservoirs can improve predictive modeling of these environments. We used hydrocarbon profiles, stable isotopes, and high-density DNA microarray analysis to characterize microbial communities in produced water from four Alaskan North Slope hydrocarbon reservoirs. Produced fluids from Schrader Bluff (24–27°C), Kuparuk (47–70°C), Sag River (80°C), and Ivishak (80–83°C) reservoirs were collected, with paired soured/non-soured wells sampled from Kuparuk and Ivishak. Chemical and stable isotope data suggested Schrader Bluff had substantial biogenic methane, whereas methane was mostly thermogenic in deeper reservoirs. Acetoclastic methanogens (Methanosaeta) were most prominent in Schrader Bluff samples, and the combined δD and δ13C values of methane also indicated acetoclastic methanogenesis could be a primary route for biogenic methane. Conversely, hydrogenotrophic methanogens (e.g., Methanobacteriaceae) and sulfide-producing Archaeoglobus and Thermococcus were more prominent in Kuparuk samples. Sulfide-producing microbes were detected in all reservoirs, uncoupled from souring status (e.g., the non-soured Kuparuk samples had higher relative abundances of many sulfate-reducers compared to the soured sample, suggesting sulfate-reducers may be living fermentatively/syntrophically when sulfate is limited). Sulfate abundance via long-term seawater injection resulted in greater relative abundances of Desulfonauticus, Desulfomicrobium, and Desulfuromonas in the soured Ivishak well compared to the non-soured well. In the non-soured Ivishak sample, several taxa affiliated with Thermoanaerobacter and Halomonas predominated. Archaea were not detected in the deepest reservoirs. Functional group taxa differed in relative abundance among reservoirs, likely reflecting differing thermal and/or geochemical influences.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temperature and injection water source influence microbial community structure in four Alaskan North Slope hydrocarbon reservoirs

Piceno

Reid²,

Tom³

et al. 2014

Front. Microbiol.

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“…Studies of souring and its control with nitrate or nitrite have mostly used VFA or lactate as the electron donor for nitrate and sulfate reduction (15,19,21,33,34,45,46). Only Myhr et al (18) also used an oil-flooded bioreactor.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Acetate Production from Oil under Sulfate-Reducing Conditions in Bioreactors Injected with Sulfate and Nitrate

Callbeck

Agrawal

Voordouw

2013

Appl Environ Microbiol

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Oil production by water injection can cause souring in which sulfate in the injection water is reduced to sulfide by resident sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB). Sulfate (2 mM) in medium injected at a rate of 1 pore volume per day into upflow bioreactors containing residual heavy oil from the Medicine Hat Glauconitic C field was nearly completely reduced to sulfide, and this was associated with the generation of 3 to 4 mM acetate. Inclusion of 4 mM nitrate inhibited souring for 60 days, after which complete sulfate reduction and associated acetate production were once again observed. Sulfate reduction was permanently inhibited when 100 mM nitrate was injected by the nitrite formed under these conditions. Pulsed injection of 4 or 100 mM nitrate inhibited sulfate reduction temporarily. Sulfate reduction resumed once nitrate injection was stopped and was associated with the production of acetate in all cases. The stoichiometry of acetate formation (3 to 4 mM formed per 2 mM sulfate reduced) is consistent with a mechanism in which oil alkanes and water are metabolized to acetate and hydrogen by fermentative and syntrophic bacteria (K. Zengler et al., Nature 401:266 -269, 1999), with the hydrogen being used by SRB to reduce sulfate to sulfide. In support of this model, microbial community analyses by pyrosequencing indicated SRB of the genus Desulfovibrio, which use hydrogen but not acetate as an electron donor for sulfate reduction, to be a major community component. The model explains the high concentrations of acetate that are sometimes found in waters produced from water-injected oil fields.

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“…This implies each reaction has a maximum rate constant, and a half reaction constant for each reactant, making a total of 3 model parameters that need to be specified. As illustrated by Chen et al [22,23], kinetics obtained from batch experiments may differ from those found in a bioreactor for similar systems. We use matching from the bioreactor experiments to assess the appropriate parameter values.…”

Section: Microbial Growth and Metabolite Production Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mechanistic Modelling of H2S Souring Treatments by Application of Nitrate or Nitrite

Coombe¹,

Hubert

Voordou

2004

Canadian International Petroleum Conference

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The activity of sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) in oil field brines causes numerous problems associated with reservoir souring. Biological solutions based on stimulating nitratereducing bacteria provide novel, inexpensive, and environmentally friendly alternatives to the use of biocides and corrosion inhibitors. Experiments have been designed to understand and optimize mechanisms associated with this novel treatment and provide a sound technical basis for the application of this technology.Here, appropriate microbial growth and metabolite production kinetic models are employed in the STARS reservoir model to simulate laboratory continuous up-flow packed-bed bioreactor tests. Observed compositional changes along the length of the bioreactor are matched for various injected treatment scenarios. Sensitivity to factors affecting growth and production rates are examined.A stratified, dipping reservoir model with properties typical of North Sea conditions is then investigated as a field prototype. The complications introduced by multiphase flow effects and sweep to the basic process are indicated, and sensitivities to the amount of biodegradable carbon, assumed microbe growth/decay levels, and fractions of sessile/liquidphase bacteria on process evolution are illustrated. The simulations provide a dramatic demonstration of how this novel H 2 S souring treatment can be applied to field problem wells.

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Kinetic investigation of microbial souring in porous media using microbial consortia from oil reservoirs

Cited by 29 publications

References 20 publications

Temperature and injection water source influence microbial community structure in four Alaskan North Slope hydrocarbon reservoirs

Temperature and injection water source influence microbial community structure in four Alaskan North Slope hydrocarbon reservoirs

Acetate Production from Oil under Sulfate-Reducing Conditions in Bioreactors Injected with Sulfate and Nitrate

Mechanistic Modelling of H2S Souring Treatments by Application of Nitrate or Nitrite

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