scholarly journals In Situ Biosurfactant Production by Bacillus Strains Injected into a Limestone Petroleum Reservoir

2006 ◽  
Vol 73 (4) ◽  
pp. 1239-1247 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Youssef ◽  
D. R. Simpson ◽  
K. E. Duncan ◽  
M. J. McInerney ◽  
M. Folmsbee ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Oil Recovery ◽  
Molecular Data ◽  
Average Concentration ◽  
Biosurfactant Production ◽  
Petroleum Reservoir ◽  
Minimum Concentration ◽  
Recovery Processes ◽  
Microbial Oil Recovery ◽  
Carbon Balances

ABSTRACT Biosurfactant-mediated oil recovery may be an economic approach for recovery of significant amounts of oil entrapped in reservoirs, but evidence that biosurfactants can be produced in situ at concentrations needed to mobilize oil is lacking. We tested whether two Bacillus strains that produce lipopeptide biosurfactants can metabolize and produce their biosurfactants in an oil reservoir. Five wells that produce from the same Viola limestone formation were used. Two wells received an inoculum (a mixture of Bacillus strain RS-1 and Bacillus subtilis subsp. spizizenii NRRL B-23049) and nutrients (glucose, sodium nitrate, and trace metals), two wells received just nutrients, and one well received only formation water. Results showed in situ metabolism and biosurfactant production. The average concentration of lipopeptide biosurfactant in the produced fluids of the inoculated wells was about 90 mg/liter. This concentration is approximately nine times the minimum concentration required to mobilize entrapped oil from sandstone cores. Carbon dioxide, acetate, lactate, ethanol, and 2,3-butanediol were detected in the produced fluids of the inoculated wells. Only CO2 and ethanol were detected in the produced fluids of the nutrient-only-treated wells. Microbiological and molecular data showed that the microorganisms injected into the formation were retrieved in the produced fluids of the inoculated wells. We provide essential data for modeling microbial oil recovery processes in situ, including growth rates (0.06 � 0.01 h−1), carbon balances (107% � 34%), biosurfactant production rates (0.02 � 0.001 h−1), and biosurfactant yields (0.015 � 0.001 mol biosurfactant/mol glucose). The data demonstrate the technical feasibility of microbial processes for oil recovery.

Diffusivity of Gas Into Bitumen: Part II—Data Set and Correlation

SPE Journal ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (04) ◽  
pp. 1667-1680 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. D. Richardson ◽  
F. F. Schoeggl ◽  
S. D. Taylor ◽  
B.. Maini ◽  
H. W. Yarranton
Keyword(s):  
Oil Recovery ◽  
Oil Viscosity ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Gas Concentration ◽  
Recovery Processes ◽  
Gas Diffusivity ◽  
Constant Diffusivity ◽  
Mixture Viscosity ◽  
Gaseous Hydrocarbons

Summary The oil-production rate of in-situ heavy-oil-recovery processes involving the injection of gaseous hydrocarbons partly depends on the diffusivity of the gas in the bitumen. Data for gas diffusivities, particularly above ambient temperature, are relatively scarce because they are time consuming to measure. In this study, the diffusion and solubilities of gaseous methane, ethane, propane, and n-butane in a Western Canadian bitumen were measured from 40 to 90°C and pressures from 300 to 2300 kPa, using a pressure-decay method. The diffusivities were determined from a numerical model of the experiments that accounted for the swelling of the oil. In Part I of this study (Richardson et al. 2019), it was found that both constant and viscosity-dependent diffusivities could be used to model the mass of gas diffused and the gas-concentration profile in the bitumen; however, the constant diffusivity was different for each experiment and mainly depended on the oil viscosity. In this study, a correlation for the constant diffusivity to the oil viscosity is developed as a tool to quickly estimate the gas diffusivity. A correlation of diffusivity to the mixture viscosity is also developed for use in more-rigorous diffusion models. The maximum deviations in the mass diffused over time predicted with the constant and viscosity-dependent (mixture viscosity) correlations at each condition are on average 7.4 and 8.7%, respectively.

scholarly journals Anaerobic lipopeptide biosurfactant production by an engineered bacterial strain for in situ microbial enhanced oil recovery

RSC Advances ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (33) ◽  
pp. 20667-20676 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaolong Liang ◽  
Rongjiu Shi ◽  
Mark Radosevich ◽  
Feng Zhao ◽  
Yingyue Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Enhanced Oil Recovery ◽  
Oil Recovery ◽  
Bacterial Strain ◽  
Potential Application ◽  
Biosurfactant Production ◽  
Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery ◽  
Lipopeptide Biosurfactant

Anaerobic lipopeptide biosurfactant production by engineered bacterial strain FA-2 was fulfilled forin situMEOR potential application.

scholarly journals Development of an In Situ Biosurfactant Production Technology for Enhanced Oil Recovery

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.J. McInerney ◽  
R.M. Knapp ◽  
Kathleen Duncan ◽  
D.R. Simpson ◽  
N. Youssef ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Enhanced Oil Recovery ◽  
Production Technology ◽  
Oil Recovery ◽  
Biosurfactant Production

Diffusivity of Gas Into Bitumen: Part I—Analysis of Pressure-Decay Data With Swelling

SPE Journal ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (04) ◽  
pp. 1645-1666 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. D. Richardson ◽  
F. F. Schoeggl ◽  
B.. Maini ◽  
A.. Kantzas ◽  
S. D. Taylor ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Oil Recovery ◽  
Single Experiment ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Solvent Content ◽  
Pressure Decay ◽  
Recovery Processes ◽  
Constant Diffusivity ◽  
Volumes Of Mixing ◽  
Gaseous Hydrocarbons

Summary The oil-production rate of in-situ heavy-oil-recovery processes involving the injection of gaseous hydrocarbons partly depends on the diffusivity of the gas in the bitumen. The gas diffusivities required to model these processes are determined indirectly from models of mass-transfer experiments. However, the data in the literature are scattered partly because different methods and model assumptions are used in each case. In this work, the pressure-decay method is examined with a focus on accounting for swelling and the dependence of the diffusivity on the solvent content. To assess these issues, the diffusion of gaseous propane into bitumen is measured at conditions where significant swelling occurs. A numerical model is developed for the pressure-decay experiment that accounts for swelling (including excess volumes of mixing) and variable diffusivity. For gases, such as propane, with a relatively high solubility in bitumen, the error in the calculated diffusivity reached 25% when swelling was not included in the model. The error in the height of the gas/oil interface reached 15%. Nonideal mixing had no effect on the calculated diffusivity and only a small effect on the height of the interface. It was found that the diffusion data from a single experiment could be modeled equally well with a constant or a solvent-concentration-dependent (or viscosity-dependent) diffusivity. However, the apparent constant diffusivities for each experiment were different, confirming their dependence on the solvent content. The constant diffusivity approximately correlated to the viscosity of the oil. A larger data set is required to fully develop and test a correlation, and this work will be presented in Part II of this study (Richardson et al. 2019).

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