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Laboratory Protocols for Investigating Microbial Souring and Potential Treatments in Crude Oil Reservoirs

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Hydrocarbon and Lipid Microbiology Protocols

Part of the book series: Springer Protocols Handbooks ((SPH))

Abstract

Oilfield souring is most frequently caused by the activities of sulfate-reducing microorganisms as they reduce sulfate to sulfide as their terminal electron-accepting process. Souring poses serious health and safety hazards to oilfield workers and can be detrimental to oil production processes by potentially plugging reservoirs and/or leading to infrastructure corrosion. Oilfield souring often occurs during secondary recovery operations based on waterflooding, especially when the water source contains an ample amount of sulfate that can stimulate sulfate reducers associated with the reservoir or other locations within an oil recovery operation (such as topside facilities). Water chemistry, temperature, potential carbon sources, and microbial communities all play a role in determining whether souring will occur in a given field. Approaches such as biocide, nitrate, or, most recently, perchlorate treatments have shown good success in controlling souring in laboratory experiments and/or in field applications. This chapter outlines a variety of protocols that can be used in a laboratory setting to study souring potential in a given oilfield and to test methods of souring control that may be applied to that field or oilfields in general. Methods of field sample collection, water chemistry analyses, microbiological analyses, and laboratory incubation strategies are described.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Johanna Voordouw, Yin Shen, Dr. Rhonda Clark, Dr. Dongshan An, Dr. Chuan Chen, and Dr. Sandra Wilson for their roles in developing and optimizing many of the protocols described in this chapter. LMG was supported by a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) Discovery grant, while YX and GV were supported by an NSERC Industrial Research Chair Award (to GV) which is also funded by Baker Hughes, BP, Computer Modelling Group Limited, ConocoPhillips Company, Intertek, Dow Microbial Control, Enbridge, Enerplus Corporation, Oil Search Limited, Shell Global Solutions International BV, Suncor Energy Inc., and Yara Norge AS, as well as by Alberta Innovates Energy and Environment Solutions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Petroleum Microbiology Research Group, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, AB, T2N 1N4, Canada

    Yuan Xue, Gerrit Voordouw & Lisa M. Gieg

Authors
  1. Yuan Xue
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  2. Gerrit Voordouw
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  3. Lisa M. Gieg
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lisa M. Gieg .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Biological Sciences, University of Essex, Colchester, Essex, United Kingdom

    Terry J. McGenity

  2. Institute of Microbiology, Technical University Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Germany

    Kenneth N. Timmis

  3. Department of Biology, University of the Balearic Islands and Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies (IMEDEA, UIB-CSIC), Palma de Mallorca, Spain

    Balbina Nogales

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© 2015 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Xue, Y., Voordouw, G., Gieg, L.M. (2015). Laboratory Protocols for Investigating Microbial Souring and Potential Treatments in Crude Oil Reservoirs. In: McGenity, T., Timmis, K., Nogales, B. (eds) Hydrocarbon and Lipid Microbiology Protocols. Springer Protocols Handbooks. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/8623_2015_115

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/8623_2015_115

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-662-49138-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-662-49140-9

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