Workshop Gets on Microbes' Good Side
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- Saudi Aramco News
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Author: Saudi Aramco News
Released 13 December 2007
QURAYYAH, December 12, 2007 -- Just as microbes have both good and bad effects in the human body, so do they impact Saudi Aramco’s Seawater Injection System.
Sulfate-reducing bacteria are seen through a scanning electron microscope.
It was to share and learn about those effects that the Sea Water Injection Department (SWID) in collaboration with the Research and Development Center (R&DC) on Nov. 19 conducted the first Microbiology Workshop.
The workshop provided an introduction to the impacts that microbes have on company operations. It introduced delegates to the fascinating world of microbes and explained why microbial activity has to be controlled and monitored. The workshop also explored the potential benefits of new treatment philosophies.
New research and technology were presented to show how the company is beginning to use microbes in a positive way to reduce environmental impact, produce more oil and improve product quality.
“The objective of the workshop and the collaboration between SWID and R&DC is to share knowledge and experience, to present current challenges and ways to overcome them, to discuss alternative treatments and future technologies and to establish successful partnership for future projects,” said workshop facilitator Mohammed H. Al-Ghamdi.
Participants in the first Microbiology Workshop pose on the beach at Qurayyah. They gathered to learn about the good and bad effects microbes have on Saudi Aramco’s Seawater Injection System.
SWID manager Bahjat M. Zayed illustrated the need of workshops such as this. Zayed explained the necessity of a basic understanding of microbial processes in company operations and of appreciating the importance of microbial control and monitoring to minimize cost and maximize revenue from Saudi Aramco assets.
The best-known of the damaging effects of microbes are seen in corrosion and the internal fouling of water injection systems. Microbes known as sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) generate corrosive, solid, byproducts. SRB must be controlled by an expensive “biocide” chemical treatment.
Mohammed Al-Moniee and Peter Sanders from R&DC explained the complexity of what seems a simple issue and showed how R&DC is able to define the most cost-effective biocide regime for a specific system.
Microbial fouling and corrosion show on welds inside a water injection system.
Tony Rizk, also from R&DC, presented a new “biotechnological” approach to controlling sulfate-reducing bacteria. By adding a small amount of an inexpensive, nontoxic commodity chemical - nitrate - another group of bacteria, nitrate reducing bacteria, is stimulated, thus preventing the growth of the damaging bacteria.
That biotechnology has been implemented in one Saudi Aramco oilfield. R&DC is assessing nitrate treatment regimes for other applications to minimize chemical and operating costs as well as establishing better control of microbe-associated problems such as the generation of highly toxic, corrosive and costly hydrogen sulfide by SRB.