Microbial enhanced oil recovery research. Final report, Annex 5

Technical Report · Thu Jul 01 00:00:00 EDT 1993

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/10176017· OSTI ID:10176017

Sharma, M M; Gerogiou, G

The objective of this project was to develop an engineering framework for the exploitation of microorganisms to enhance oil recovery. An order of magnitude analysis indicated that selective plugging and the production of biosurfactants are the two most likely mechanisms for the mobilization of oil in microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR). The latter, biosurfactant production, is easier to control within a reservoir environment and was investigated in some detail. An extensive literature survey indicated that the bacterium Bacillus licheniformis JF-2 produces a very effective surface active agent capable of increasing the capillary number to values sufficiently low for oil mobilization. In addition, earlier studies had shown that growth of this bacterium and biosurfactant production occur under conditions that are typically encountered in MEOR, namely temperatures up to 55{degrees}C, lack of oxygen and salinities of up to 10% w/v. The chemical structure of the surfactant, its interfacial properties and its production by fermentation were characterized in some detail. In parallel, a set of experiments as conducted to measure the transport of Bacillus licheniformis JF-2 in sandpacks. It was shown that the determining parameters for cell transport in porous media are: cell size and degree of coagulation, presence of dispersants, injection velocity and cell concentration. The mechanisms of bacteria retention within the pores of the reservoir were analyzed based on heuristic arguments. A mathematical simulator of MEOR was developed using conservation equations in which the mechanisms of bacteria retention and the growth kinetics of the cells were incorporated. The predictions of the model agreed reasonably well with experimental results.

• Research Organization: Texas Univ., Austin, TX (United States). Dept. of Petroleum Engineering
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: FG22-89BC14445
• OSTI ID: 10176017
• Report Number(s): DOE/BC/14445-12; ON: DE93000151
• Resource Relation: Other Information: PBD: Jul 1993
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
OIL WELLS
MICROBIAL EOR
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
BACILLUS LICHENIFORMIS
GROWTH
SURFACTANTS
BIOSYNTHESIS
PROGRESS REPORT
ANAEROBIC CONDITIONS
TEMPERATURE RANGE 0273-0400 K
PETROLEUM
ENHANCED RECOVERY
PLUGGING
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
020300
550700
DRILLING AND PRODUCTION
MICROBIOLOGY