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Title: Comparative Study of Effects of CO2 Concentration and pH on Microbial Communities from a Saline Aquifer, a Depleted Oil Reservoir, and a Freshwater Aquifer

Abstract

Injected CO2 from geologic carbon storage is expected to impact the microbial communities of proposed storage sites, such as depleted oil reservoirs and deep saline aquifers, as well as overlying freshwater aquifers at risk of receiving leaking CO2. Microbial community change in these subsurface sites may affect injectivity of CO2, permanence of stored CO2, and shallow subsurface water quality. The effect of CO2 concentration on the microbial communities in fluid collected from a depleted oil reservoir and a freshwater aquifer was examined at subsurface pressures and temperatures. The community was exposed to 0%, 1%, 10%, and 100% pCO2 for 56 days. Bacterial community structure was analyzed through 16S rRNA gene clone libraries, and total bacterial abundance was estimated through quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Changes in the microbial community observed in the depleted oil reservoir samples and freshwater samples were compared to previous results from CO2-exposed deep saline aquifer fluids. Overall, results suggest that CO2 exposure to microbial communities will result in pH-dependent population change, and the CO2-selected microbial communities will vary among sites. In conclusion, this is the first study to compare the response of multiple subsurface microbial communities at conditions expected during geologic carbon storage, increasing the understanding ofmore » environmental drivers for microbial community changes in CO2-exposed environments.« less

Authors:
 [1];  [2];  [2]
  1. National Energy Technology Lab. (NETL), Pittsburgh, PA, (United States). Office of Research and Development
  2. Carnegie Mellon Univ., Pittsburgh, PA (United States). Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
National Energy Technology Lab. (NETL), Albany, OR (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE
OSTI Identifier:
1307331
Report Number(s):
NETL-PUB-20090
Journal ID: ISSN 1092-8758
Resource Type:
Journal Article: Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Environmental Engineering Science
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 33; Journal Issue: 10; Journal ID: ISSN 1092-8758
Publisher:
Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; Subsurface microbial communities; geologic carbon storage; carbon sequestration

Citation Formats

Gulliver, Djuna M., Lowry, Gregory V., and Gregory, Kelvin B. Comparative Study of Effects of CO2 Concentration and pH on Microbial Communities from a Saline Aquifer, a Depleted Oil Reservoir, and a Freshwater Aquifer. United States: N. p., 2016. Web. doi:10.1089/ees.2015.0368.
Gulliver, Djuna M., Lowry, Gregory V., & Gregory, Kelvin B. Comparative Study of Effects of CO2 Concentration and pH on Microbial Communities from a Saline Aquifer, a Depleted Oil Reservoir, and a Freshwater Aquifer. United States. https://doi.org/10.1089/ees.2015.0368
Gulliver, Djuna M., Lowry, Gregory V., and Gregory, Kelvin B. 2016. "Comparative Study of Effects of CO2 Concentration and pH on Microbial Communities from a Saline Aquifer, a Depleted Oil Reservoir, and a Freshwater Aquifer". United States. https://doi.org/10.1089/ees.2015.0368. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1307331.
@article{osti_1307331,
title = {Comparative Study of Effects of CO2 Concentration and pH on Microbial Communities from a Saline Aquifer, a Depleted Oil Reservoir, and a Freshwater Aquifer},
author = {Gulliver, Djuna M. and Lowry, Gregory V. and Gregory, Kelvin B.},
abstractNote = {Injected CO2 from geologic carbon storage is expected to impact the microbial communities of proposed storage sites, such as depleted oil reservoirs and deep saline aquifers, as well as overlying freshwater aquifers at risk of receiving leaking CO2. Microbial community change in these subsurface sites may affect injectivity of CO2, permanence of stored CO2, and shallow subsurface water quality. The effect of CO2 concentration on the microbial communities in fluid collected from a depleted oil reservoir and a freshwater aquifer was examined at subsurface pressures and temperatures. The community was exposed to 0%, 1%, 10%, and 100% pCO2 for 56 days. Bacterial community structure was analyzed through 16S rRNA gene clone libraries, and total bacterial abundance was estimated through quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Changes in the microbial community observed in the depleted oil reservoir samples and freshwater samples were compared to previous results from CO2-exposed deep saline aquifer fluids. Overall, results suggest that CO2 exposure to microbial communities will result in pH-dependent population change, and the CO2-selected microbial communities will vary among sites. In conclusion, this is the first study to compare the response of multiple subsurface microbial communities at conditions expected during geologic carbon storage, increasing the understanding of environmental drivers for microbial community changes in CO2-exposed environments.},
doi = {10.1089/ees.2015.0368},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1307331}, journal = {Environmental Engineering Science},
issn = {1092-8758},
number = 10,
volume = 33,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue Aug 09 00:00:00 EDT 2016},
month = {Tue Aug 09 00:00:00 EDT 2016}
}

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Cited by: 11 works
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