High-Pressure Microscopic Investigation on the Oil Recovery Mechanism by <i>in Situ</i> Biogases in Petroleum Reservoirs

Zhu, Weiyao; Zhao, Jinglei; Huang, Han; Sun, Guifan; Song, Zhiyong

doi:10.1021/acs.energyfuels.5b01906

Cited by 13 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…To date, a large amount of microbial populations have been isolated or detected in oil reservoirs worldwide (Lenchi et al, 2013; Al-Sayegh et al, 2015; Gao et al, 2016; Okoro et al, 2016; Su et al, 2018). These microorganisms are versatile: some species can degrade crude oil, some can produce biosurfactants (Liu et al, 2015; Cui et al, 2017; Qi et al, 2018), biopolymers (Bi et al, 2016; Xia et al, 2018; Zhao et al, 2018), or biogases (Dong et al, 2015; Zhu et al, 2015), and have been used to mobilize and recover residual oil from oil-bearing rocks (Youssef et al, 2009; Wang et al, 2014; Yi et al, 2018). In addition, nitrate can be used to reduce formation of hydrogen sulfide produced by sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) based on the competitive inhibition of nitrate-reducing bacteria on SRB (Gieg et al, 2011; Gassara et al, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Composition of Bacterial and Archaeal Communities in an Alkali-Surfactant-Polyacrylamide-Flooded Oil Reservoir and the Responses of Microcosms to Nutrients

Gao

Tan

et al. 2019

Front. Microbiol.

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The microbial communities in alkali-surfactant-polyacrylamide-flooded (ASP-flooded) oil reservoirs have rarely been investigated compared to those in water-flooded oil reservoirs. Here, the bacterial and archaeal communities in an ASP-flooded reservoir and the adjacent water-flooded block, and responses of the microbial communities in microcosms to nutrients were investigated by 16S rRNA gene sequencing and cultivation. Compared with the water-flooded block, both the bacterial and archaeal communities inhabiting the ASP-flooded block had lower Sobs indices (91:232 and 34:55, respectively), lower Shannon indices (1.296:2.256 and 0.845:1.627, respectively) and higher Simpson indices (0.391:0.248 and 0.678:0.315, respectively). Halomonas (58.4–82.1%) and Anoxynatronum (14.5–18.2%) predominated in the ASP-flooded production wells, and were less than 0.05% in the bacterial communities of the adjacent water-flooded production wells, which were dominated by Pseudomonas and Thauera. Methanobacterium accounted for 65.0–94.5% of the archaeal communities inhabiting the ASP-flooded production wells, and Methanosaeta (36.7–94.5%) dominated the adjacent water-flooded production wells. After nutrients stimulation, the quantity of cultivable microorganisms increased from 103/mL to 107/mL. Community analysis indicated that the relative abundances of some species that belonged to Halomonas and Pseudomonas obviously increased, yet there were no oil emulsification or dispersion and changes of surface tension of the water-oil mixture. In addition, 6 alkali-tolerating strains showing 98% similarity of 16S rRNA genes with those of Halomonas alkalicola and Halomonas desiderata and 2 strains with 99% similarity with Pseudomonas stutzeri gene were isolated from the nutrients stimulated brines. In summary, this study indicated that Halomonas, Anoxynatronum, and Methanobacterium were dominant populations in the ASP-flooded reservoir, the extreme environment decreased microbial diversity, and restricted microbial growth and metabolisms.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Composition of Bacterial and Archaeal Communities in an Alkali-Surfactant-Polyacrylamide-Flooded Oil Reservoir and the Responses of Microcosms to Nutrients

Gao

Tan

et al. 2019

Front. Microbiol.

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“…The two-dimensional microscopic flooding apparatus shown schematically in Figure a was described in our previous paper. , The experimental setup comprised two primary systems: a flooding system and an image capturing system. The flooding system consisted of a syringe pump, accumulators, and a model holder, and the image-capturing system included a microscope, camera, and computer.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

2-D Pore-Scale Experimental Investigations of Asphaltene Deposition and Heavy Oil Recovery by CO₂ Flooding

et al. 2018

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To understand the pore-scale processes of asphaltene deposition during heavy oil recovery by CO2 flooding, a series of microscopic flooding experiments were conducted in two-dimensional models under high-temperature (80 °C) and high-pressure (2, 6, and 10 MPa) conditions. Two different heavy oils, AZ-4 and KD-9 (with viscosities of 7754 and 19 290 mPa·s, respectively, at 80 °C), were used. In these samples, up to 95% and 85% of oil viscosity reduction, respectively, could be achieved by CO2 dissolution. During CO2 flooding in the microscopic models, with increasing fluid pressure (6 and 10 MPa) and CO2 concentrations (60–80 mol %), both the covered area (17–38%) and the sizes of the deposited particles (up to 200 μm) became larger. At 6 MPa, a dynamic between between dissolution and precipitation was observed in large pores (with diameters of >350 μm). According to the solvent dissolution test (heptane and toluene), the deposited solids comprise both asphaltene and alkane components. Between AZ-4 and KD-9, higher resin/asphaltene ratios tend to reduce asphaltene deposition during the dissolution of CO2 by stabilizing the solubility of asphaltene in crude oil. In addition, although permeability decreased (up to 15%) with increasing pressure (2–10 MPa) and CO2 concentrations (25–70 mol %), the oil recovery mostly increased (up to 88.6% with AZ-4). The only decrease in oil recovery occurred with KD-9, which decreased from 64.7% (6 MPa, with a CO2 concentration of 69.7%) to 56.1% under 10 MPa and considerably high CO2 concentrations (79.7 mol %). Compared with the light oil system, the tested heavy oil shows considerably improved recovery and less asphaltene deposition during high-concentration CO2 flooding. Therefore, although CO2 miscibility can hardly be achieved in heavy oil reservoirs, CO2 is of great interest due to its high solubility in heavy oil and significant oil viscosity reduction.

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“…To effectively calculate the imbibition recovery in capillaries, the mature drawing image processing technology was adopted in this experiment [19]. It was noted that the whole experiment process was kept at 50 °C.…”

Section: Experimental Procedurementioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental Investigation on the Effect of Pore Size on Spontaneous Imbibition Recovery in Oil-Wet Reservoirs

Yue

Chen³

et al. 2022

Geofluids

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Spontaneous imbibition has been considered as a significant method to enhanced oil recovery (EOR) in unconventional reservoirs. The main impediment to comprehending the variation characteristics of spontaneous imbibition at different pore scales was the reservoir’s opacity. To this end, a series of spontaneous imbibition experiments of visualized oil-wet microtubes with six different diameters (10 μm~60 μm) were performed, as were the corresponding macroscopic core imbibition tests with six different permeabilities under the same conditions. The results showed that formation brine mostly advanced along the wall surface of a capillary during the imbibition process, and some were even isolated within a capillary. The imbibition recovery in the capillary with a diameter of 10 μm was the highest (27.81%), which was more than three times that of the capillary with a diameter of 60 μm (8.3%). There was a good power function decline relationship between capillary diameter and imbibition recovery, and 30 μm appeared to be a critical inflection point in both capillary tube and macroscopic core imbibition tests. In addition, the majority of the detained residual oil clusters not only cut off the continuity of formation brine but also increased the imbibition flow resistance, accelerating the imbibition to balance. This research provides a new perspective for comprehending the imbibition characteristics at different pore scales.

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High-Pressure Microscopic Investigation on the Oil Recovery Mechanism by in Situ Biogases in Petroleum Reservoirs

Cited by 13 publications

References 43 publications

Composition of Bacterial and Archaeal Communities in an Alkali-Surfactant-Polyacrylamide-Flooded Oil Reservoir and the Responses of Microcosms to Nutrients

Composition of Bacterial and Archaeal Communities in an Alkali-Surfactant-Polyacrylamide-Flooded Oil Reservoir and the Responses of Microcosms to Nutrients

2-D Pore-Scale Experimental Investigations of Asphaltene Deposition and Heavy Oil Recovery by CO₂ Flooding

Experimental Investigation on the Effect of Pore Size on Spontaneous Imbibition Recovery in Oil-Wet Reservoirs

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High-Pressure Microscopic Investigation on the Oil Recovery Mechanism by in Situ Biogases in Petroleum Reservoirs

Cited by 13 publications

References 43 publications

Composition of Bacterial and Archaeal Communities in an Alkali-Surfactant-Polyacrylamide-Flooded Oil Reservoir and the Responses of Microcosms to Nutrients

Composition of Bacterial and Archaeal Communities in an Alkali-Surfactant-Polyacrylamide-Flooded Oil Reservoir and the Responses of Microcosms to Nutrients

2-D Pore-Scale Experimental Investigations of Asphaltene Deposition and Heavy Oil Recovery by CO2 Flooding

Experimental Investigation on the Effect of Pore Size on Spontaneous Imbibition Recovery in Oil-Wet Reservoirs

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2-D Pore-Scale Experimental Investigations of Asphaltene Deposition and Heavy Oil Recovery by CO₂ Flooding