美国杜邦公司提供的微生物驱油技术[转]JPT2014年第6期

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    美国杜邦公司最近推出的微生物驱提高采收率技术值得引起我国科学界关注。多少年前，我国也跟着国外一起，也研究过微生物驱油，但老外后来停止了对此研发的报道，国内也就逐渐停止了研发和工业试验，在90年代末期，我国有不少矿场实验，也报道了具有好的驱油效果，既然好，也不知道后来就又停止了？而杜邦公司这次MEOR研发成功会给我们什么思考和启示？

      通常，国内在技术研发方面愿意跟风，老外搞什么我们就搞什么，原始创新能力较弱。近年来，发明专利也不少，但有多少专利再产生效益，不但专利本省没有用，而且这些专利还要交钱来维持。通常，每一个研发项目在验收时都是成功的，几乎没有一个研发失败的项目。恰恰相反，一个具有创新思路的项目都具有较高的研发风险，为什么就不能失败？而只要失败的理由是合理的，就是一个不错的探索，没有什么大惊小怪，也没用必要非要评人家一个差的项目？这种现状不改变，国内的创新研发无法前进。一些问题专家们早有针砭，一些专家在一些项目验收或成果评价时所指出：验收或报奖的时候都是国际领先水平，但在项目开题的时候有什么技术都差，又都是国际最低水平。这两种提法都有一个特点，不“实事求是”，国际领先是为了评高等级的奖，而后面的国际最低水平是为了获得大量的科研资金。国内研发要上水平应该考虑停止科研评奖，用项目研发生产的现场效益为准绳，是骡子是马拉出去在该遛的地方去遛，您成果确实好，自有人认可，有人要使用，而不是自吹自擂。

       顺便再说一句:研究需要脚踏实地，不是一蹴而就的。目前致密储层多级压裂用的slickwater压裂体系，就slickwater的化学成分仅有百分之零点几，但就这个化学剂体系美国人投资研发了10年才成功的。就这百分之零点几的化学剂所起的作用强大的不得了，没有它此次压裂会失败，我称这种效应为科学领域中的“蝴蝶效应”。

DuPont Touts MEOR Technology

25 Jun 2014

Chemical giant DuPont is ramping up the commercial-scaleimplementation of its microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR) methodafter nearly a decade of development and testing of what it says is a low-riskway to improve production from mature fields. Using its bio-analysistechnology, DuPont has isolated microbes able to promote flow conformancethrough the production of a biofilm that restricts flow by reducingpermeability. The company has also identified and isolated microbes that haveoil-releasing (or wettability-changing) qualities to reduce the residual oiladhering to the rock. Based on successful results both in the lab and in thefield, the company says that its MEOR solution can increase production rates byas much as 25% at a cost of USD 10 per incremental barrel. The company presented the details of its laboratory tests and discussed the results offield trials at SPE’s Symposium on Improved Oil Recovery in Tulsa in April.

Despite the extreme pressures, temperatures, and otherharsh conditions found inside an oil reservoir, where there is water, there isoften life. And while scientists and engineers have long known there to bethousands of species of bacteria found in these reservoirs, they have onlyrecently begun to find out how to make use of them, thanks to advancements inbiotechnology and DNA analysis. “Most of these oil wells are very much alivewith bacteria,” said John Fisher, a global technology manager with DuPont and aco-author of several papers of the company’s MEOR technology. “The key is toidentify the ones that will do the function that you want, isolate those, take them out of the reservoir, grow them up, and put them back in at a higher concentration.”

This process of reintroducing, or inoculating, alaboratory-grown batch of indigenous microbes into the reservoir is what DuPontsays separates its MEOR solution from the others. By starting off with amicrobe that is already adapted for the reservoir’s unique environment, the chancethat it will not survive is eliminated. But to get it to thrive, DuPont hasdeveloped a “tailored suite” of nutrients to be sent down into the reservoir topreferentially feed and grow the selected microbes. The initial inoculationoperation can last 8 to 14 hours but requires production to be shut down forabout 5 to 6 days to allow the microbes and nutrients to flow deep into thereservoir—away from the near-wellbore area. After that, monthly injections ofthe nutrients, lasting about an hour each, are needed to sustain their greatlyincreased populations. Because the microbes are dependent on these regulardeliveries of nutrients, DuPont’s MEOR process is completely reversible. “Ifyou stop feeding them, they die and revert back to the natural levels they wereat before, based on the food that was already there,” Fisher said.

With this MEOR technique, the operator also faces verylow upfront cost. Because the process simply involves the deployment ofbacteria and nutrients into the well, there are no significant capitalinvestments to be made. “You do not need to put in big expensive facilitieslike you do for a CO2 flood or polymer flood,” Fisher said. “Youbasically come in with a tank-truck of microbial solution and nutrients, pumpit in the well, go away, and come back a month later to pump it in again.”

The criteria DuPont has developed for the application ofits MEOR solution include fields with reservoir temperatures below 160°F andmoderate salinity levels of up to 100,000 ppm. The reservoir must also beundergoing a waterflood treatment and have permeability above 30 md in order tocarry the microbes and nutrients deep into the reservoir where they canestablish a growth zone.

Trent Jacobs is a Technology Writer for theJournal of Petroleum Technology.

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多谢窦老师分享前沿技术，窦老师好久没见了~