A novel method to model and characterize in-situ bio-surfactant production in microbial enhanced oil recovery

摘要

Capillary force is an important factor that limits the efficiency of water flooding by trapping the oil in porous media. High capillarity is caused by high interfacial tension (IFT) between oil and water that leads to a high residual oil saturation. Surfactants are widely used to reduce IFT and significantly mobilize the entrapped oil. However, the surfactants that are injected into a reservoir to lower the IFT several orders of magnitude may not be cost effective. Microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR) process may potentially address a cost effective alternative to surfactant flooding. In the MEOR process, nutrients and natural bacteria are injected into a reservoir and both indigenous and injected microorganisms are able to react and then generate biosurfactants based on in-situ reactions.