Grounds of Failure
- Lack of holistic approach allowing for a critical evaluation of economics, applicability and performance of MEOR is missing.
- No published study includes reservoir characteristics; biochemical and physiological characteristics of microbiota; controlling mechanisms and process economics.
- The ecophysiology of microbial communities thriving in oil reservoirs is largely unexplored. Consequently, there is a poor critical evaluation of the physical and biochemical mechanisms controlling microbial response to the hydrocarbon substrates and their mobility.
- Absence of quantitative understanding of microbial activity and poor understanding of the synergistic interactions between living and none living elements. Experiments based on pure cultures or enrichments are questionable because microbial communities interact synergistically with minerals, extracellular polymeric substances and other physicochemical and biological factors in the environment.
- Lack of cooperation between microbiologists, reservoir engineers, geologists, economists and owner operators; incomplete pertinent reservoir data, in published sources: lithology, depth, net thickness, porosity, permeability, temperature, pressure, reserves, reservoir fluid properties (oil gravity, water salinity, oil viscosity, bubble point pressure, and oil-formation-volume factor), specific EOR data (number of production and injection wells, incremental recovery potential as mentioned by the operator, injection rate, calculated daily and total enhanced production), calculated incremental recovery potential over the reported time.
- Limited understanding of MEOR process economics and improper assessment of technical, logistical, cost, and oil recovery potential.
- Unknowns life cycle assessments. Unknown environmental impact
- Lack of demonstrable quantitative relationships between microbial performance, reservoir characteristics and operating conditions
- Inconsistency in in situ performance; low ultimate oil recovery factor; uncertainty about meeting engineering design criteria by microbial process; and a general apprehension about process involving live bacteria.
- Lack of rigorous controlled experiments, which are far from mimicking oil reservoir conditions that may have an effect over gene expression and protein formation.
- Kinetic characterization of bacteria of interest is unknown. Monod equation has been broadly misused.
- Lack of structured mathematical models to better describe MEOR.
- Lack of understanding of microbial oil recovery mechanism and deficient mathematical models to predict microbial behaviour in different reservoirs.
- Surfactants: biodegradable, effectiveness affected by temperature, pH and salt concentration; adsorption on to rock surfaces.
- Unfeasible economic solutions such as the utilization of enzymes and cultured microorganism.
- Difficult isolation or engineering of good candidate strains able to survive the extreme environment of oil reservoirs (up to 85 °C, up to 17.23 MPa).
Read more about this topic: Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery
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