INTRODUCTIONTO ENHANCEDOILRECOVERY (EOR)PROCESSES ANDBIOREMEDIATIONOF OIL‐CONTAMINATEDSITES EditedbyLauraRomero‐Zerón Introduction to Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) Processes and Bioremediation of Oil-Contaminated Sites Edited by Laura Romero-Zerón Published by InTech Janeza Trdine 9, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia Copyright © 2012 InTech All chapters are Open Access distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license, which allows users to download, copy and build upon published articles even for commercial purposes, as long as the author and publisher are properly credited, which ensures maximum dissemination and a wider impact of our publications. After this work has been published by InTech, authors have the right to republish it, in whole or part, in any publication of which they are the author, and to make other personal use of the work. Any republication, referencing or personal use of the work must explicitly identify the original source. As for readers, this license allows users to download, copy and build upon published chapters even for commercial purposes, as long as the author and publisher are properly credited, which ensures maximum dissemination and a wider impact of our publications. Notice Statements and opinions expressed in the chapters are these of the individual contributors and not necessarily those of the editors or publisher. No responsibility is accepted for the accuracy of information contained in the published chapters. The publisher assumes no responsibility for any damage or injury to persons or property arising out of the use of any materials, instructions, methods or ideas contained in the book. Publishing Process Manager Vana Persen Technical Editor Teodora Smiljanic Cover Designer InTech Design Team First published May, 2012 Printed in Croatia A free online edition of this book is available at www.intechopen.com Additional hard copies can be obtained from orders@intechopen.com Introduction to Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) Processes and Bioremediation of Oil-Contaminated Sites, Edited by Laura Romero-Zerón p. cm. ISBN 978-953-51-0629-6 Contents Preface IX Section 1 Introduction to Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) 1 Chapter 1 Advances in Enhanced Oil Recovery Processes 3 Laura Romero-Zerón Chapter 2 The Application of a New Polymeric Surfactant for Chemical EOR 45 Khaled Abdalla Elraies and Isa M. Tan Chapter 3 Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery 71 Hamid Rashedi, Fatemeh Yazdian and Simin Naghizadeh Chapter 4 Enhanced Oil Recovery in Fractured Reservoirs 89 Martin A. Fernø Section 2 Environmental Management Through Bioremediation 111 Chapter 5 Microorganisms and Crude Oil 113 Dorota Wolicka and Andrzej Borkowski Chapter 6 Comprehensive Perspectives in Bioremediation of Crude Oil Contaminated Environments 143 Chukwuma S. Ezeonu, Ikechukwu N.E. Onwurah and Obinna A. Oje Chapter 7 Hydrocarbon Pollution: Effects on Living Organisms, Remediation of Contaminated Environments, and Effects of Heavy Metals Co-Contamination on Bioremediation 185 Shukla Abha and Cameotra Swaranjit Singh Chapter 8 Bioremediation of Crude Oil Contaminated Soil by Petroleum-Degrading Active Bacteria 207 Jinlan Xu VI Contents Chapter 9 Microbial Outlook for the Bioremediation of Crude Oil Contaminated Environments 245 Rachel Passos Rezende, Bianca Mendes Maciel, João Carlos Teixeira Dias and Felipe Oliveira Souza Chapter 10 Crude Oil Metagenomics for Better Bioremediation of Contaminated Environments 261 Ines Zrafi-Nouira, Dalila Saidane-Mosbahi, Sghir Abdelghani, Amina Bakhrouf and Mahmoud Rouabhia Chapter 11 Oil-Spill Bioremediation, Using a Commercial Biopreparation “MicroBak” and a Consortium of Plasmid-Bearing Strains “V&O” with Associated Plants 291 Andrey Filonov, Anastasia Ovchinnikova, Anna Vetrova, Irina Puntus, Irina Nechaeva, Kirill Petrikov, Elena Vlasova, Lenar Akhmetov, Alexander Shestopalov, Vladimir Zabelin and Alexander Boronin Preface Worldwide,crudeoildemandisunceasinglyincreasing.Asa response,EnhancedOil Recovery(EOR)processeshavere‐gainedinterestfromtheresearchanddevelopment phasesto the oilfield EOR implementationstage. This renewed interesthas been also furthered by the current high oil price environment, the maturation of oilfields worldwide, andfewnew‐welldiscoveries.Concurrently,environmentalconcernsand public pressure related to crude oil pollution control and remediation of oil‐ contaminatedsitesarebecominggreaterthanever. This book provides a concise and accurate introduction of enhanced oil recovery (EOR) processes and bioremediation of oil‐contaminated environments. The book is structuredintwosections.Thefirstsection,whichcontains4chapters,presentsabrief and simplifieddescription of the mechanisms of primary and secondaryoil recovery processes and clearly explains the need for the implementation of EOR processes to boosttherecoveryofoiland/ortodisplaceandproducethesignificantamountsofoil left behind in the reservoir after or during the course of any primary and secondary recovery process. The mechanisms, limitations, and problems encounter during the application of EOR methods are succinctly reviewed. This section also highlights the emerging EOR technological trends and presents key EOR areas that need to evolve throughresearchanddevelopment. Thesecondsectionofthebookfocusesontheuseofbiologicalactiontoremediatethe inevitable environmental footprint of crude oil production; such is the case of accidentaloilspillsonaqueous(i.e.marine,river)andlandenvironments.Thissection is structured in seven chapters and begins introducing specific microorganisms that are capable of living in and/or degrading crude oil. Then, it reviews the concepts of bioremediation, phytoremediation, and biomonitoring. It also provides practical information on the isolation and evaluation of petroleum degrading microorganisms and discusses the main variables affecting bioremediation of aqueous (marine, river) and land sites contaminated with crude oil. Furthermore, it introduces crude oil metagenomics, which isan emergingbiotechnology useful to improvetheevaluation ofthe diversity, identification, isolation, and functional properties of microorganisms involved in the degradation of different petroleum compounds. The molecular analysis of the bacterial composition present in polluted sites represents an essential stage to improve the current understanding of the microorganisms involved in the X Preface degradation of hydrocarbons. This section closes with insights on the mixture of microorganisms to formulate highly efficient bio‐consortia to target the degradation andefficientremovalofcrudeoilpollutantsfromcontaminatedenvironments. Thisbookistargettoawiderangeofreaderswhomighthavesomebasicknowledge in these subjects but are looking for more matter‐of‐fact information. Thus, through this book practical concepts in enhanced oilrecovery methods and bioremediationof oil‐pollutedsitesweregrouped,structured,andplacedalltogetherincontextwiththe ultimategoalofbeingusefulfora non‐specializedaudience.Thus,this bookis useful for university students (undergraduate and graduate students), oilfield operators, reservoir engineers, environmental engineering professionals, oil business managers and/orexecutives,amongothers. The sources used to aid in the writing process consisted mainly on the review of the most recent scientific literature in these fields and on discussion of current research and development conducted directly by the authors and co‐authors of some of the chapters.Themainobjectiveistoprovidestateoftheartinformationontheemerging technologicaltrendsinthefieldsofEORandbioremediation. Finally, I would liketo express my appreciation and thankfulness to the authors and coauthorswhocontributedwritingthedifferentchaptersofthebook.Ialsogratefully recognize, the effort and time devoted by the technical reviewers and editors team, whohelpedandcontributedtowardsthewritingprocessandpublishingofthisbook. LauraRomero‐Zerón ChemicalEngineeringDepartment University ofNewBrunswick Canada . INTRODUCTION TO ENHANCED OIL RECOVERY (EOR) PROCESSES AND BIOREMEDIATION OF OIL CONTAMINATED SITES EditedbyLauraRomero‐Zerón Introduction to Enhanced Oil Recovery. mechanisms of primary and secondary oil recovery processes and clearly explains the need for the implementation of EOR processes to boostthe recovery of oil and/ or to displace and producethesignificantamounts of oil left. demonstrated to increase oil recovery. The mechanisms associated to this processes are still unclear, however the favorable oil Introduction to Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) Processes and Bioremediation