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Abstract

AAPG Bulletin, V. 106, No. 1 (January 2022), P. 179-208.

Copyright ©2022. The American Association of Petroleum Geologists. All rights reserved.

DOI: 10.1306/07132120124

Sulfate-reducing bacteria streamers and iron sulfides abruptly occlude porosity and increase hydraulic resistance in proppant-filled shale fractures

Bruce W. Fouke,1 Ananda S. Bhattacharjee,2 Glenn A. Fried,3 Mayandi Sivaguru,4 Robert A. Sanford,5 Lang Zhou,6 Reinaldo E. Alcalde,7 Kenneth Wunch,8 Amber Stephenson,9 Joseph A. Ferrar,10 Alvaro G. Hernandez,11 Chris Wright,12 Christopher J. Fields,13 Lauren G. Todorov,14 Kyle W. Fouke,15 Cyrus M. Bailey,16 and Charles J. Werth17

1Roy J. Carver Biotechnology Center, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois; Carl Zeiss Labs@Location Partner, Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois; and Department of Geology, Department of Microbiology, and Roy J. Carver Biotechnology Center, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois; [email protected]
2Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois; and Carl Zeiss Labs@Location Partner, Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois; [email protected]
3Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois; and Carl Zeiss Labs@Location Partner, Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois; [email protected]
4Roy J. Carver Biotechnology Center, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois; and Carl Zeiss Labs@Location Partner, Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois; [email protected]
5Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois; and Department of Geology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois; [email protected]
6Department of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas; [email protected]
7Department of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas; [email protected]
8DuPont Microbial Control, DuPont Nutrition and Biosciences, Houston, Texas; [email protected]
9DuPont Microbial Control, DuPont Nutrition and Biosciences, Wilmington, Delaware; [email protected]
10DuPont Microbial Control, DuPont Nutrition and Biosciences, Wilmington, Delaware; [email protected]
11Roy J. Carver Biotechnology Center, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois; [email protected]
12Roy J. Carver Biotechnology Center, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois; [email protected]
13Roy J. Carver Biotechnology Center, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois; [email protected]
14Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois; and School of Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois; [email protected]
15Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois; and Department of Geology and Environmental Sciences, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, Pennsylvania; [email protected]
16Department of Geology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois; [email protected]
17Department of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas; [email protected]

ABSTRACT

A shale GeoBioCell microfluidic testbed has been used to evaluate the processes by which the growth of sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) biofilms and iron sulfide biominerals reduce porosity and increase hydraulic resistance (HR) in hydraulically fractured (fracked) shale reservoirs. These microbe-mineral-water interactions were tracked in real time at 45°C (113°F) within proppant-filled microchannels constructed within Devonian New Albany Shale samples from the Illinois Basin. Metagenomic analyses of the SRB communities used in experimentation indicate they are composed of Desulfovibrio alaskensis, Aminivibrio sp., and two Synergistaceae sp. The SRB growth and iron sulfide precipitation were tracked with high-resolution brightfield microscopy and HR measurements. After ∼80–160 hr, exponential increases in HR reached complete clogging after ∼150–230 hr (HR > 0.10 psi/(μl min−1)). Porosity and permeability occlusion was caused by the growth of SRB biofilm streamers encrusted with iron sulfides. Environmental scanning electron microscopy revealed that these large SRB streamers that were hundreds of micrometers in diameter were composed of microbial cells that adhere to each other, attach to proppant surfaces, and extend downstream in and around proppant pore spaces. This indicates that in proppant-filled fracked shales, SRB streamers with iron sulfides readily attach, occlude pore space, and hinder flow. This establishes the shale GeoBioCell as a viable experimental testbed for future determination of the efficacy of microbial biocides and other oil field amendments that are routinely applied to maintain and enhance hydrocarbon production in fracked shale reservoirs.

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