| 摘要 |
The present invention relates to a method of establishing a microbial plug in a hydrocarbon-containing geological formation which has been flooded with water, the method comprising: a) introducing into the formation a microbial inoculum, the microorganisms of which are: (i) spores or otherwise in a dormant state, (ii) capable of sporulation, (iii) cellulolytic or hemicellulolytic, (iv) thermophiles, extreme thermophiles or hyperthermophiles, (v) unable to utilise hydrocarbons as a carbon source, and (vi) not indigenous to the hydrocarbon-containing geological formation; b) simultaneously or sequentially introducing into the formation a growth medium which provides a carbon source which can be utilised by the microorganisms introduced in step (a) but not by indigenous microorganisms; c) exposing the inoculum to conditions which enable the microorganisms to enter an active growth phase within water channels in the geological formation; and d) introducing an injection liquid comprising further growth medium as defined in step b) into the formation via an injection well; as well as to the methods of maintaining such plugs, to methods of controlled alteration of the position and/or extent of an established plug and to the plugs themselves. |
