MEOR

01.01.2017 - 31.12.2019

Prof. Dr. Leonhard Ganzer

The Institute of Petroleum Engineering (ITE) of Clausthal University of Technology has been invited by Wintershall Dea GmbH to participate on the project “Investigation of Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery (MEOR) in Micromodels. This research focuses on the investigation and fundamental understanding of the pore-scale oil recovery mechanisms relevant to “Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery (MEOR)”, including:

• Possible MEOR plugging effects
• Bacterial activity, percolation of biomass and visualization of bacteria
• Wettability alteration effects
• Produced gas (CO2) by bacteria
• Additional oil recovery that results 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 to investigate the pore-scale oil recovery mechanisms listed above.
Phase I of this project started in January 2017 and completed by mid of June 2017. Phase I focused on the extension of the microfluidic experimental setup for anaerobe and sterile conditions (Phase I - WP 1), selection of micromodels and construction of customized MEOR micromodel holder (Phase I - WP 2), and first single phase MEOR flooding experiments (Phase I - WP 3). One of the major goals of Phase I was to show that bacteria grow and can be visualized in micromodels at ITE. Initial results of Phase I clearly show bacterial growth in micromodels at ITE indicating successful completion of Phase I.
Phase II of this project started in June 2017 and completed by December 2017. Phase II focused on the extension of the microfluidic experimental setup for elevated pressures (up to 6 bar(g)) and two-phase flow conditions (Phase II - WP 1), single - phase as well as 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 started in January 2018 and completed by end of December 2018. Phase III focused on construction of new micromodel and wettability control (Phase III - WP 1 and 2), development of image processing tools for MEOR analysis (Phase III - WP 3 and 5), and micromodel MEOR flooding experiments single-phase as well as two-phase (oil and brine) (Phase III - WP 4).
Phase IV of this has started in January 2019 and will be completed by end of December 2019. Phase IV focused on MEOR flooding experiments single-phase as well as two-phase (oil and brine) (Phase IV- WP 1) and wettability control (Phase IV - WP 2) as well as development of an image processing tool for MEOR analysis (Phase IV - WP 3).