Controlling the Hydro-Swelling of Smectite Clay Minerals by Fe(III) Reducing Bacteria for Enhanced Oil Recovery from Low-Permeability Reservoirs

Kai Cui, Chengjun Wang, Li Li, Jungang Zou, Weihong Huang, Zhongzhi Zhang, Heming Wang and Kun Guo
Additional contact information
Kai Cui: School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China
Chengjun Wang: College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xi’an Shiyou University, Xi’an 710065, China
Li Li: The First Oil Production Plant of Xinjiang Oilfield Company, China National Petroleum Corporation, Xinjiang 834000, China
Jungang Zou: The First Oil Production Plant of Xinjiang Oilfield Company, China National Petroleum Corporation, Xinjiang 834000, China
Weihong Huang: The First Oil Production Plant of Xinjiang Oilfield Company, China National Petroleum Corporation, Xinjiang 834000, China
Zhongzhi Zhang: State Key Laboratory of Heavy Oil Processing, Beijing Key Lab of Oil & Gas Pollution Control, College of Chemical Engineering and Environment, China University of Petroleum, Beijing 102249, China
Heming Wang: State Key Laboratory of Heavy Oil Processing, Beijing Key Lab of Oil & Gas Pollution Control, College of Chemical Engineering and Environment, China University of Petroleum, Beijing 102249, China
Kun Guo: School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 12, 1-14

Abstract: The hydro-swelling of smectite clay minerals in low-permeability reservoirs further decreases the reservoir permeability and results in low oil recovery. Currently, the traditional chemical anti-swelling agents are widely used, but most of them are only effective in the short term and are not environmentally friendly. Here, we report the use of Fe(III) reducing microorganisms (FeRM) as a novel green anti-swelling agent to enhance oil recovery from low-permeability reservoirs. The results showed that FeRM ( Proteus hauserifective ) inhibited/reduced the hydro-swelling of smectite clay minerals through a three-step biochemical mineralization reaction process. The structural Fe(III) reduction in minerals by FeRM can be an important driving force for illitization. The maximum inhibition efficiency (36.6%) and shrinkage efficiency (69.3%) were achieved at 35 °C and 0.1 Mpa. Furthermore, core displacement tests showed that FeRM reduced the waterflooding injection pressure by 61.1%, increased the core permeability by 49.6%, and increased the oil recovery by 8.1%. Finally, the mechanism of FeRM-enhanced oil recovery was revealed. This study demonstrates that using FeRM to inhibit/reduce the hydro-swelling of clay minerals holds great potential to enhance the oil recovery from low-permeability reservoirs.

Keywords: low-permeability oil reservoirs; Fe(III) reducing microorganisms; smectite clay minerals; inhibiting/shrinking hydro-swelling; enhanced oil recovery (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/12/4393/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/12/4393/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:15:y:2022:i:12:p:4393-:d:840458

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().