A Technical Feasibility Analysis to Apply Pseudomonas aeroginosa MR01 Biosurfactant in Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery of Low-Permeability Carbonate Reservoirs of Iran

Authors

1 Department of Chemical Engineering,Sharif University of Technology

2 Research Center,Sharif University of Technology

Abstract

The e ect of an ecient biosurfactant produced from Pseudomonas aeroginosa MR01, a
bacterial strain isolated from oil excavation areas in southern Iran, on the recovery of residual oil trapped
within carbonate rocks, was investigated. In a core holder set-up, bearing a number of limestone- and
dolomite-containing core samples, biosurfactant
ooding resulted in oil recoveries as large as 20% to 28%
Residual Oil (RO). Biosurfactant injection in less permeable rocks in a range of 0.5 to 32 md was more
successful, in terms of oil production. In the case of the least oil recovery via biosurfactant
ooding,
incubation of the core with a biosurfactant solution at reservoir conditions, increased the recovery from
13% residual oil at zero resting time to 15% after a resting time of one week and to about 30% after a
resting time of about two weeks. Based on interfacial tension measurements, salinity and, to a larger
extent, biosurfactant reduced interfacial tension. When salinity increased from 170000 to 200000 ppm,
the fraction of residual oil production increased to about 20%.

Keywords