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Description
The Institute of Petroleum Engineering (ITE) at Clausthal University of Technology has been invited by Wintershall Dea GmbH to participate in the project “Investigation of Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery (MEOR) in Micromodels.” This research focuses on investigating and gaining a fundamental understanding of the pore-scale oil recovery mechanisms relevant to “Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery (MEOR),” including:
- Possible MEOR plugging effects
- Bacterial activity, biomass percolation, and visualization of bacteria
- Wettability alteration effects
- Gas (CO2) produced by bacteria
- Additional oil recovery resulting from the pore-scale mechanisms listed above
For this research, “2.5”-D silicon-edged pore networks (micromodels), which resemble porous media, are used. Compared to cores, micromodels enable direct visual access to the flooding process and can provide a more detailed description of pore-scale percolation. Therefore, micromodels are an excellent choice for investigating the pore-scale oil recovery mechanisms listed above.
Phase I of this project began in January 2017 and was completed by mid-June 2017. Phase I focused on extending the microfluidic experimental setup for anaerobic and sterile conditions (Phase I – WP 1), selecting micromodels and constructing a customized MEOR micromodel holder (Phase I – WP 2), and conducting initial single-phase MEOR flooding experiments (Phase I – WP 3). One of the major goals of Phase I was to demonstrate that bacteria grow and can be visualized in micromodels at ITE. Initial results from Phase I clearly show bacterial growth in micromodels at ITE, indicating the successful completion of Phase I.
Phase II of this project began in June 2017 and was completed by December 2017. Phase II focused on extending the microfluidic experimental setup to accommodate elevated pressures (up to 6 bar(g)) and two-phase flow conditions (Phase II - WP 1), single-phase and two-phase (oil and brine) micromodel MEOR flooding experiments (Phase II - WP 2 a and b), as well as dissemination (Phase II - WP 3).
Phase III of this project began in January 2018 and was completed by the end of December 2018. Phase III focused on the construction of a new micromodel and wettability control (Phase III - WP 1 and 2), the development of image processing tools for MEOR analysis (Phase III - WP 3 and 5), and micromodel MEOR flooding experiments—both single-phase and two-phase (oil and brine) (Phase III - WP 4).
Phase IV of this project began in January 2019 and will be completed by the end of December 2019. Phase IV focused on single-phase and two-phase (oil and brine) MEOR flooding experiments (Phase IV – WP 1) and wettability control (Phase IV – WP 2), as well as the development of an image processing tool for MEOR analysis (Phase IV – WP 3).
