State-of-the-art of microbial enhanced oil recovery: a review of the literature
This report is an overview of the literature on enhanced oil recovery (EOR) using microorganisms. Microorganisms can contribute to four major areas of oil technology, three of which relate to EOR: (1) microorganisms, because of their ability to grow rapidly and excrete several types of by-products, are used to manufacture biosurfactants and biopolymers for EOR; (2) microorganisms can be injected in situ to recover residual oil; (3) microorganisms can be used to selectively plug high permeability channels in reservoirs; and (4) microorganisms can be used to remove sulfur or nitrogen from crude oils, to reduce the viscosity of crude oils, and to clean up oil spills. Before either chemical or microbial technology is established, their environmental impacts should be defined. Environmental concerns of microbial EOR (MEOR) technology are presented in this report. The adverse effects of bacteria indigenous to some reservoirs, e.g., the sulfate reducers and certain aerobic bacteria, also are discussed with respect to MEOR processes. 64 references.
- Research Organization:
- National Inst. for Petroleum and Energy Research, Bartlesville, OK (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- FC01-83FE60149
- OSTI ID:
- 6572171
- Report Number(s):
- NIPER-12; ON: DE84017403
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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