Survival of MEOR systems in porous media
It was determined that many potential environmental hazards from microbial enhancement of oil recovery (MEOR) technology are extensions of EOR environmental problems. One unique concern of MEOR is that interactions between injected microorganisms and molasses, and those microorganisms already present in the reservoir might pose novel problems. It appeared necessary to obtain information regarding the indigenous microbial flora and the survival characteristics of a MEOR system after it encounters simulated reservoir microbial conditions. We found from laboratory studies that adventitious microbial species present in the molasses overgrew several of the indigenous microorganisms in Berea sandstone cores and also overgrew the injected MEOR microorganisms. From the results of these studies, we conclude that: (1) The introduction of nutrients into a petroleum reservoir could stimulate the growth of indigenous microorganisms. (2) Microorganisms present in injected non-sterile nutrients can overgrow both injected microbes and indigenous microorganisms. (3) Spore-forming bacteria cannot survive time periods in porous media of 4-20 weeks if there are other bacterial types present. 7 refs., 7 figs., 6 tabs.
- Research Organization:
- National Inst. for Petroleum and Energy Research, Bartlesville, OK (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- FC22-83FE60149
- OSTI ID:
- 6009036
- Report Number(s):
- NIPER-105; ON: DE86000269
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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020300* -- Petroleum-- Drilling & Production
550700 -- Microbiology
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
BACILLUS
BACTERIA
BENCH-SCALE EXPERIMENTS
CLOSTRIDIUM
DATA
ENHANCED RECOVERY
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
GROWTH
INFORMATION
MATERIALS
MICROBIAL EOR
MICROORGANISMS
MOLASSES
NUMERICAL DATA
OIL WELLS
POROUS MATERIALS
RECOVERY
ROCKS
SANDSTONES
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
WELLS