Microbial recovery processes involve the usage of microorganisms, either indigenous or injected into the reservoir, to produce metabolic reactions that trigger a variety of mechanisms conducting to the production of hydrocarbons and/or enhanced oil recovery. In this work we have developed a mathematical model that accounts for several mechanisms involved both in the Microbial Gas Generation (MGG) and Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery (MEOR) processes. This involves a kinetics model that predicts the cell growth and the metabolite production of gas, bio-surfactants and bio-polymers. Additionally, the model considers the reduction of the residual oil saturation due to the bio-surfactant and the change of water viscosity by the bio-polymer. An adsorption model depicts the retention of solutes in the aqueous phase thus altering the porosity and permeability The model was implemented in a full-field 3-D compositional and black-oil reservoir simulator. We performed validations against experunental data available in the literature and then used the model to simulate MGG and MEOR processes with synthetic field cases. Sensitivity studies were conducted to assess the influence of the microbial kinetic model parameters in the predictions.
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