Correction published on 18 March 2022, see
Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(6), 3099.
A Novel Approach to Enhance Crude Oil Recovery Ratio Using Selected Bacterial Species
1
Environment Research Department, Libyan Petroleum Institute, Tripoli 6431, Libya
2
School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Ulster, Coleraine BT52 1SA, UK
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Academic Editors: Kun Sang Lee and Riyaz Kharrat
Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(21), 10492; https://doi.org/10.3390/app112110492
Received: 3 October 2021
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Revised: 27 October 2021
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Accepted: 2 November 2021
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Published: 8 November 2021
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Corrected: 18 March 2022
(This article belongs to the Topic Enhanced Oil Recovery Technologies)
The high viscosity and low flow properties of some crude oil make them difficult to extract from oil reservoirs. This study investigated the mechanisms responsible for the enhancement of oil recovery using fractured dolomite core models. Bacterial strains, Nocardia cyriacigeorgica, Bacillus species, and Pseudomonasputida, isolated from Libyan oil fields, had the ability to biotransform heavy crude oil by reducing its viscosity and converting heavier components into lighter ones. The efficiencies of the three bacterial strains were assessed using sand-packed column experiments through the injection of bacteria to mimic in-situ oil recovery. The optimum biotransformation values of Libyan Bouri crude oil were determined as 77.1, 61.2, and 61.1% using the Bacillus sp., P. putida, and Nocardia cyriacigeorgica, respectively, at 55 °C. Viscosity analyses showed that these strains resulted in the reduction of the viscosity of the crude oil at two different temperatures of 37 and 55 °C. The highest recovery of residual oil was about 11.3% using Bacillus sp. The study confirmed that the selected bacterial species were capable of displacing additional oil under simulated oil field conditions.
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Keywords:
viscosity; Nocardia cyriacigeorgica; Bacillus species; Pseudomonas putida; dolomite core; biotransformation
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MDPI and ACS Style
Althalb, H.A.; Elmusrati, I.M.; Banat, I.M. A Novel Approach to Enhance Crude Oil Recovery Ratio Using Selected Bacterial Species. Appl. Sci. 2021, 11, 10492. https://doi.org/10.3390/app112110492
AMA Style
Althalb HA, Elmusrati IM, Banat IM. A Novel Approach to Enhance Crude Oil Recovery Ratio Using Selected Bacterial Species. Applied Sciences. 2021; 11(21):10492. https://doi.org/10.3390/app112110492
Chicago/Turabian StyleAlthalb, Hakima A., Izzeddin M. Elmusrati, and Ibrahim M. Banat. 2021. "A Novel Approach to Enhance Crude Oil Recovery Ratio Using Selected Bacterial Species" Applied Sciences 11, no. 21: 10492. https://doi.org/10.3390/app112110492
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