Kinetic Model and Numerical Simulation of Microbial Growth, Migration, and Oil Displacement in Reservoir Porous Media

[Image: see text] Microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR) is a potential tertiary oil recovery method. However, past research has failed to describe microbial growth and metabolism reasonably, especially quantification of reaction equations and operating parameters is still not clear. The present study investigated the ability of bacteria extracted from Ansai Oilfield for MEOR. Through core flooding experiments, bacteria-treated experiments produced approximately 6.28–9.81% higher oil recovery than control experiments. Then, the microbial reaction kinetic model was established based on laboratory experimental data and mass conservation. Furthermore, the proposed model was validated by matching core flooding experiment results. Lastly, the effects of different injection parameters on bacteria growth, bacteria migration, metabolite migration, residual oil distribution, and oil recovery were studied by establishing a field-scale model. The results indicate that the injected bacteria concentration and nutrient concentration have a great influence on bacteria growth in a reservoir and the low nutrient concentration seriously restricts bacteria growth. Compared with the injected bacteria concentration, nutrient concentration has a decisive effect on bacteria and metabolite migration. The injected bacteria concentration has little effect on oil recovery, while nutrient concentration and slug volume have a significant effect on oil recovery.