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Factors Affecting Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery (MEOR)

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Proceedings of the 25th Pan-American Conference of Naval Engineering—COPINAVAL (COPINAVAL 2017)

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Abstract

Oil and natural gas are the primary sources of energy used by humanity, as renewable energy is not yet available to the entire population. After an oil field is abandoned, or its production declines significantly, an estimated two-thirds of the oil originally onsite remains in the subsoil, which is difficult and expensive to extract by conventional methods. Enhanced oil recovery techniques are used to increase the recovery of oil from these sites, but they are expensive and often harmful to the environment. A technically and economically viable alternative is the use of microorganisms, which are generally obtained from the oil reservoirs themselves. These microbes are resistant to oil reservoir conditions, including high pressures, temperatures above 85 °C, high salt concentrations, and extreme pH values. During microbial growth, when supplied with appropriate nutrients, these microbes generate biosurfactants, solvents, gases, and organic acids, and in some cases, biopolymers. In addition, such microbes are capable of breaking up long chains of paraffins and asphaltenes, modifying the wettability of the storage rock, decreasing the viscosity and density of the oil, and increasing the pressure within the pore network of the rock. The successful use of microbial enhanced oil recovery has been reported in which the growth of native bacteria from a reservoir was stimulated by supplying nutrients, with most treated reservoirs having shown positive results.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biotechnology Laboratory, Academic Division of Engineering and Architecture, Juarez Autonomous University of Tabasco, Km 1 Carretera Cunduacán-Jalpa, Col. La Esmeralda, Cunduacán, 86690, Tabasco, Mexico

    Miguel A. Hernández Rivera & Marcia E. Ojeda Morales

  2. Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering Department, COPPE, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Av. Pedro Calmon, 550-CEP 21941-901, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Jose Marcio Vasconcellos

Authors
  1. Miguel A. Hernández Rivera
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  2. Jose Marcio Vasconcellos
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  3. Marcia E. Ojeda Morales
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Miguel A. Hernández Rivera .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Technological University of Panama, Panama City, Panama

    Adán Vega Sáenz

  2. Federal Fluminense University, Volta Redonda, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Newton Narciso Pereira

  3. Escola Politécnica Superior, Universidade da Coruña, Ferrol, A Coruña, Spain

    Luis Manuel Carral Couce

  4. Escola Politécnica Superior, Universidade da Coruña, Ferrol, A Coruña, Spain

    José Angel Fraguela Formoso

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Rivera, M.A.H., Vasconcellos, J.M., Morales, M.E.O. (2019). Factors Affecting Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery (MEOR). In: Vega Sáenz, A., Pereira, N., Carral Couce, L., Fraguela Formoso, J. (eds) Proceedings of the 25th Pan-American Conference of Naval Engineering—COPINAVAL. COPINAVAL 2017. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-89812-4_33

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-89812-4_33

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