The Petro-Bioreactor: Changes to

Reservoir Fluids and Environment

Specifically selected microbes form a
Petro-bioreactor in the porous reservoir Figure 2: Microbes Degrading Solid Wax
rock, migrating outward from the wellbore. (long-chain alkane molecules)
As they metabolize portions of the crude oil
the result is improved oil recovery and
beneficial bi-products.

The selected microbes are cultured from

naturally occurring species, are friendly to
the environment and are not regulated by
the EPA. They are motile, seeking out their
food source. As they degrade the normal
alkanes in the crude oil, the long-chain
molecules are cracked into short-chain sol-
vents. Beneficial side products include
carbon dioxide, hydrogen, alcohols, fatty
acids, biosurfactants and biopolymers. Oil
viscosity is reduced. Paraffin wax precipi-
tation problems are reduced. API oil gravity
is increased. Scale forming ions are re-
moved from water and scale is inhibited.
Sulfate reducing bacteria are controlled.
Production and reserves are increased
while operating problems are reduced.

Figure 1: The Petro-Bioreactor in the Porous Rock

Irreducible (immobile) Water
Microbe Colony and
Migration Habitat

Oil, Gas Water

By-Products of Microbial Degradation

1. Solvents (short-chain hydrocarbons)
2. Carbon Dioxide
3. Hydrogen
4. Alcohols Mobilized Irreducible Oil
5. Fatty Acids
6. Biosurfactants
Reservoir Rock
7. Biopolymers

Oil, Gas, Water + Microbes

Irreducible
Oil

The Petro-Bioreactor: Changes to Reservoir Fluids and Environment Page 1

 Table 1: Changes in Oil Properties Viscosity of crude oil varies with shear rate.
It is a pseudo plastic fluid, unlike water and
kerosene for which viscosity is nearly con-
Conventional vs. Microbe Enhanced stant as the shear rate is varied. By reducing
Conven. Enhan. the content of long-chain molecules, mi-
crobes shift the crude toward a more New-
API Gravity 39.4 41.9
tonian fluid, as shown in Figure 5.
Viscosity (cp) 15 9
Pour Point (°F) 98 81 Figure 5: Newtonian Index

% Solvents * 40 52 100

% Paraffin Wax 60 48 90

* Solvents include gasoline, kerosene and diesel.

80
Conventional
Pseudoplastic
V 70
Changes that microbes make in some com- i
mon crude properties are shown in Table 1. s 60
c
o 50
One obvious change made by the microbes s
i 40
is in pour point. Crude flows easier at the t
same temperature after treatment with mi- y 30 Microbe Enhanced
,
crobes. 20 Conv. Oil + 15% Kerosene
c
Figure 3: Pore Point Improvement P 10
Kerosene
0
Before Microbe After Microbe 0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Treatment Treatment Shear Rate, rpm

The affect microbes have on the crude is

similar to adding solvent. The oil is thinned
and moved toward a Newtonian fluid simi-

Figure 4: Oil Enhancement — Higher Solvent Content

Conventional Oil +
Solvent Treatment
Conventional Oil Microbe Enhanced Oil

24.8%
10.4 gal

40% 52% 40%

16.8 gal 21.8 gal 16.8 gal

60% 48% 60%

25.2 gal 20.2 gal 25.2 gal

40% Solvent 52% Solvent 52% Solvent

60% Residue 48% Residue by adding 10.4
0.67 Ratio 1.08 Ratio gallons of solvent
48% Residue
1.08 Ratio

The Petro-Bioreactor: Changes to Reservoir Fluids and Environment Page 2

larly as if kerosene had been added. As the crobes can no longer find nourishment until
long chains are degraded, volume increases the enhanced crude is produced bringing
and density decreases: un-degraded crude to the microbes, or the
C18 H 38 → 2C + C8 H 18 + C 6 H 14 + C 2 H 6 microbes move to “fresh” food. Microbes
significantly and beneficially alter the prop-
C18 H 38 weighs 7.6 lbs./gal. erties of crude oil.
2C reduces weight 0.4 lbs./gal. to 7.2 lbs./gal.
Microbes, Inc.’s technology further alters
. 50% C8 H 18 at 5.9 lbs./gal. = 0.61 gal.
the reservoir environment by removing
38% C6 H 14 at 5.6 lbs./gal. = 0.48 gal. scale forming ions from formation water. In
12% C2 H 6 at 3.1 lbs./gal. = 0.29 gal. addition, the bioproduction of organic acids
∴ 7.2 lbs = 1.38 gal. → 5.2 lbs./gal. and proteins have chelating, anti-precipita-
tion and biosurfactant properties. Most
The microbes break this long chain mole-
common oil field scales are inhibited in-
Figure 6: ASTM Figure 7: Gas/Liquid Chromatograph
Distillation
Crude Composition
Temperature vs. 12
Solvent Recovery Butane Naptha Diesel
M Gasoline Kerosene
700
o
l 10
600 e
Conventional
% 8
500 Microbe
T Solvents Paraffin Wax
e n Enhanced
m 400 - 6
p A
l
300
° k 4
F a
200 n
Microbe e 2
100 Enhanced s Conventional
0
0 C2 C4 C6 C8 C10 C12 C14 C16 C18 C20 C22 C24 C26 C28 C30
0 10 20 30 40 50
% Recovery Carbon Composition

cule by removing two carbon atoms.
The shift in molecular composition of the
crude is proven by ASTM distillation
analysis and gas/liquid chromatography.
For the ASTM distillation, the recovery is
greater at the same temperature indicating
a shift toward more volatile components.
This shift is confirmed in the chroma-
tograph. The n-Alkane composition is
shifted to the lower length carbon chains.
As the food source is degraded, the mi-
cluding calcium carbonate, calcium sulfate,
iron sulfide and barium sulfate. Scale is
made more soluble in the formation water
and the microbes work to remove any pro-
tective paraffin layers. Microbes, Inc.’s
scale control is a complete water treatment
program — the removal of metallic ions,
solubilization of scale deposits and inhibi-
tion.
Microbes, Inc.’s Anti-Microbic Suppres-
sion (AMS) technology is an environmen-
tally friendly and user safe treatment

The Petro-Bioreactor: Changes to Reservoir Fluids and Environment Page 3

process that controls SRB contamination of
production and injection wells, producing
reservoirs and surface facilities. AMS inter-
feres with SRB colonization by reducing
nutrients, restricting colony space and de-
stroying cell bodies.
Microbe Selection and Monitoring
of Petro-Bioreactor
Oil and water samples are taken from the
well head before and during microbe treat-
ing. Our lab test procedure is to inoculate
each sample with different products and
compare viscosity vs. shear rate changes to
an un-inoculated control sample. The test-
ing procedure takes about 14 days to com-
 Viscosity of the Control 
Newtonian Index = fn  
 Viscosity of the Inoculate 
=
control vis. @ min. shear rate - control vis. @ max. shear rate
inoculate vis. @ min. shear rate - inoculate vis. @ max. shear rate
plete. The following parameters are deter-
mined from testing.
technology. Criteria for successful microbe
enhancement are based upon empirical data
developed based upon more than seven
years of experience.
The test on the conventional oil is used to
determine the blend of microbes used to
establish the Petro-bioreactor. Also, after
MMEOR is begun, subsequent samples are
compared to the base sample to determine
the degree of enhancement and if the mi-
crobe blend needs to be adjusted. These
tests together with production and operat-
ing data allow ongoing monitoring of the
effectiveness of the Petro-bioreactor.
Figure 8 shows the change in viscosity that
is typical of a crude high in paraffin. Figures
8, 9 and 10 are for a conventional crude oil.
The well has not been treated and the crude
has not been enhanced down-hole by a
Petro-bioreactor. Viscosity for this sample
is reduced 71% and the slope of the curve

The Newtonian Index indicates the shift in Figure 8: Viscosity vs. Shear Rate
molecular composition from a plastic (het- Best Microbe Blend
erogeneous) liquid towards Newtonian 500
(homogeneous) liquid. This index is used Control
450
to recognize shifts in molecular composi- Microbe Enhanced

400
∑ control vis.-∑ microbe inoculated vis.
delta Viscosity = Newtonian Index = 4.12
∑ control vis. 350 delta Viscosity = 0.71
EOR Index = 3.48
Viscosity, cP

tion caused by different microbe blends. 300

1 250
EOR Index =
1 - delta Viscosity 200

The value is of less importance than the 150

physical shape of the curve.
100

>= 0.10 for a positive test

50

>= 1.15 for a positive test 0

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Shear Rate, 1/Sec
The parameters are qualitative numbers
used to estimate the effectiveness of our

The Petro-Bioreactor: Changes to Reservoir Fluids and Environment Page 4

is reduced 348%. Microbes have effec- are are often more effective than a single
tively altered this crude’s properties in the strain in the laboratory.
laboratory. The pre-MMEOR sample also
The temperature curves in Figure 10 illus-
Figure 9: Viscosity vs. Shear Rate trate microbe induced reductions in cloud
Microbe Blend Selection point and threshold viscosities. These
500
Figure 10: Viscosity vs. Temperature
450 C014SOOC CONTROL
C014SOOD NPC 1+ 1,600
C014SOOE NPC2+ Control
400
C014S003 NPC 3 1,400
C014SOO4 NPC 4 Microbe
350
C014SOO5 NPC 5 Enhanced
C014SOO6 NPC 6 1,200
Viscosity, cP

300
C014SOOB BB
NONE
250 1,000

Vi sco si ty,cP
200 800

150
600
100
400
50

200
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Shear Rate, 1/Sec 0
110 115 120 125 130 135 140
Summary 4/28/96 7:58 AM Oil Samples at 120°F Tem pe rat ur e,Deg . F
Data Set: C014 S -- Huabei Oil Field Liu 36-5
Newtonian delta EOR 90.0
ID Run Name Index Viscosity Index
Control C014SOOC CONTROL 1.00 0.00 1.00 80.0
1 C014SOOD NPC 1+ 3.39 0.38 1.63
2 C014SOOE NPC 2+ 3.05 0.49 1.95
3 C014S003 NPC 3 2.45 0.19 1.24 70.0
4 C014SOO4 NPC 4 3.20 0.44 1.80
5 C014SOO5 NPC 5 1.57 0.04 1.04 60.0
6 C014SOO6 NPC 6 4.12 0.71 3.48
Vi sco si ty,cP

7 C014SOOB BB 1.70 0.19 1.23

50.0

serves as a baseline against which actual 40.0

field results are later measured.
30.0

The proper microbe blend is determined 20.0

from the data presented in Figure 9, and a
knowledge of how the different microbes 10.0

interact. Effectiveness of different products 0.0

is largely dependent on the crude’s mole- 150 160 170 180 190 200
cule size distribution. Microbes are selected Tem pe rat ur e,Deg . F
that can best derive nourishment from the
size molecules in this crude oil, thereby analyses are run on “dead” oil at atmos-
breaking the molecules into shorter chain pheric pressure so care must be taken in
lengths. Different strains of microbes work- extrapolating the results to reservoir condi-
ing symbiotically in the Petro-bioreactor tions. The value of these curves is to select

The Petro-Bioreactor: Changes to Reservoir Fluids and Environment Page 5

 proper microbes for treating and for a base- The curves in Figure 11 illustrate the im-
line to monitor the Petro-bioreactor. provement in viscosity caused by the mi-
crobes in the Petro-bioreactor. The
After MMEOR is begun, additional crude pre-MMEOR sample provides both a con-
and water samples are taken and analyzed. trol and inoculated baseline against which
These tests will show a downward viscosity samples taken over the next 14 months,
shift for the un-inoculated MMEOR control after the start of MMEOR, are compared.
compared to this conventional control. In Figure 11(a) the viscosity versus shear
Also, inoculation will be ineffective at fur- rate curves indicate the microbes in the
ther lowering the viscosity if an effective reservoir are indeed making the oil less
Petro-bioreactor has already significantly viscous and more Newtonian. Figure 11(b)
improved the oil properties. illustrates an even greater improvement in
cloud point and threshold viscosity than
was expected based on the pre-MMEOR
Figure 11: MMEOR Monitoring
inoculated conventional oil sample. This
(a) Viscosity vs. Shear Rate ongoing monitoring is used to optimize
350 treatment frequencies and microbe blends.
Control 9/27/94
300 Inoculated 9/27/94
MEOR 10/31/94
250 MEOR 11/30/94
Viscosity, cP

MEOR 2/6/95
200 MEOR 6/29/95
MEOR 11/30/95
150

100

50

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Shear Rate, 1/Sec

(b) Viscosity vs. Temperature

2,000
1,800
1,600
1,400
Viscosity, cP

1,200
1,000
800
600
400
200
0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
Temperature, °F

The Petro-Bioreactor: Changes to Reservoir Fluids and Environment Page 6