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13:19
Enhanced Oil Recovery using a Combination of Biosurfactants
Published on: June 3, 2022
Microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR)
1Mississippi State University, Biological Sciences, 449 Hardy Road, Room 131 Etheredge Hall, P.O. Box GY, Mississippi State, MS 39762, USA. lrbsr@ra.msstate.edu
Current Opinion in Microbiology
|February 13, 2010
Summary
Microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR) could increase oil extraction, but lacks industry acceptance due to insufficient evidence. Further rigorous field trials are essential to prove MEOR
Area of Science:
- Petroleum Engineering
- Microbiology
Background:
- Significant oil reserves remain unrecovered after primary and secondary methods.
- Microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR) is a tertiary oil recovery technique.
- Despite numerous patents since 1946, MEOR has not been adopted by the oil industry.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the current status and challenges of Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery (MEOR).
- To identify the requirements for establishing MEOR as a viable oil recovery method.
Main Methods:
- Review of existing literature on MEOR, including laboratory experiments and field trials.
- Analysis of patents and industry acceptance of MEOR.
Main Results:
- Most MEOR studies are based on limited laboratory data or inadequate field trials.
- Lack of convincing proof and insufficient duration of field tests hinder MEOR acceptance.
- Over 400 MEOR patents exist, but none have achieved industry-wide adoption.
Conclusions:
- MEOR remains an unproven concept due to a lack of rigorous, conclusive field evidence.
- Specific recommendations for establishing MEOR viability require further testing.
- Convincing proof from well-designed, long-term field trials is necessary for MEOR to become a reality.
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