Affiliation:
1. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, Alberta T2N 1N4, Canada
2. Repsol YPF SA, Buenos Aires, Argentina
3. Baker Petrolite Corporation, Sugar Land, Texas 77478
Abstract
ABSTRACT
Acetate, propionate, and butyrate, collectively referred to as volatile fatty acids (VFA), are considered among the most important electron donors for sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) and heterotrophic nitrate-reducing bacteria (hNRB) in oil fields. Samples obtained from a field in the Neuquén Basin, western Argentina, had significant activity of mesophilic SRB, hNRB, and nitrate-reducing, sulfide-oxidizing bacteria (NR-SOB). In microcosms, containing VFA (3 mM each) and excess sulfate, SRB first used propionate and butyrate for the production of acetate, which reached concentrations of up to 12 mM prior to being used as an electron donor for sulfate reduction. In contrast, hNRB used all three organic acids with similar kinetics, while reducing nitrate to nitrite and nitrogen. Transient inhibition of VFA-utilizing SRB was observed with 0.5 mM nitrite and permanent inhibition with concentrations of 1 mM or more. The addition of nitrate to medium flowing into an upflow, packed-bed bioreactor with an established VFA-oxidizing SRB consortium led to a spike of nitrite up to 3 mM. The nitrite-mediated inhibition of SRB led, in turn, to the transient accumulation of up to 13 mM of acetate. The complete utilization of nitrate and the incomplete utilization of VFA, especially propionate, and sulfate indicated that SRB remained partially inhibited. Hence, in addition to lower sulfide concentrations, an increase in the concentration of acetate in the presence of sulfate in waters produced from an oil field subjected to nitrate injection may indicate whether the treatment is successful. The microbial community composition in the bioreactor, as determined by culturing and culture-independent techniques, indicated shifts with an increasing fraction of nitrate. With VFA and sulfate, the SRB genera
Desulfobotulus
,
Desulfotignum
, and
Desulfobacter
as well as the sulfur-reducing
Desulfuromonas
and the NR-SOB
Arcobacter
were detected. With VFA and nitrate,
Pseudomonas
spp. were present. hNRB/NR-SOB from the genus
Sulfurospirillum
were found under all conditions.
Publisher
American Society for Microbiology
Subject
Ecology,Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology,Food Science,Biotechnology
Reference36 articles.
1. Basic local alignment search tool
2. American Public Health Association. 1992. Standard methods for the examination of wastewater, p. 439-440. American Water Works Association and Water Pollution Control Federation, Washington, DC.
3. Barth, T. 1991. Organic acids and inorganic ions in waters from petroleum reservoirs, Norwegian continental shelf: a multivariate statistical analysis and comparison with American reservoir formation waters. Appl. Geochem.6:1-15.
4. Barth, T., and M. Riis. 1992. Interactions between organic acid anions in formation waters and reservoir mineral phases. Org. Geochem.19:455-482.
5. Birkeland, N.-K. 2005. Sulfate-reducing bacteria and archaea, p. 35-54. In B. Ollivier and M. Magot (ed.), Petroleum microbiology. ASM Press, Washington, DC.
Cited by
80 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献