MEOR Disadvantages
- The oxygen deployed in aerobic MEOR can act as corrosive agent on non-resistant topside equipment and down-hole piping
- Anaerobic MEOR requires large amounts of sugar limiting its applicability in offshore platforms due to logistical problems
- Exogenous microbes require facilities for their cultivation.
- Indigenous microbes need a standardized framework for evaluating microbial activity, e.g. specialized coring and sampling techniques.
- Microbial growth is favoured when: layer permeability is greater than 50 md; reservoir temperature is inferior to 80 0C, salinity is below 150 g/L and reservoir depth is less than 2400m.
Read more about this topic: Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery