Abstract
Publisher Summary This chapter explores the microbial plugging problems associated with conventional water-flooding operations and evaluates the mechanisms responsible. The characteristics required of bacterial microbiologically enhanced oil recovery (MEOR) cultures for their successful injection are described and the microbial problems anticipated during other enhanced oil recovery (EOR) operations such as polymer flooding is discussed. There are two general mechanisms of microbial plugging likely to occur in the wellbore region. Two mechanisms of plugging can be distinguished: (1) particulate plugging by the microbial cells themselves and (2) viable bacterial plugging through biofilm formation. The mechanisms of microbial plugging is independently demonstrated in a model core system in which the average pore throat size is sufficiently large (33 pm) to ensure that particulate type plugging will be relatively insignificant for suspensions of singly dispersed bacteria. The importance of extracellular polymer production in microbial plugging has also been demonstrated using a culture not noted for biofilm formation.
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