Shurong Zhang

A novel way to enhance the oil recovery ratio by Streptococcus sp. BT-003.

Degrading hydrocarbon by Streptococcus sp. BT‐003 as a kind of microbe for oil recovery was analyzed in this paper. The Streptococcus sp. BT‐003 showed that it could use crude oil as the sole source of carbon and produce organic acid, bio‐gas and polysaccharide which were propitious to emulsify and reduce the viscosity of crude oil. After cultivating 8–14 h, the viscosity of crude oil reduced from 8000–15000 mPa · s to 50–250 mPa · s. The content of organic acid increased 8–15 times, and carbon dioxide and polysaccharide reached 55 ml/l and 8 g/l respectively. Paraffin and resin reduced by 60–95%, and light components increased obviously. Fluid rheology was better than before, the interfacial tension between the crude oil and water were reduced effectively. (© 2009 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)