Additional Homework Problems

CDP9-FA

An understanding of bacteria transport in porous media is vital to the efficient operation of the water flooding of petroleum reservoirs. Bacteria can have both beneficial and harmful effects on the reservoir. In enhanced microbial oil recovery, EMOR, bacteria are injected to secrete surfactants to reduce the interfacial tension at the oil-water interface so that oil will flow out more easily. However, under some circumstances the bacteria can be harmful, by plugging the pore space and thereby block the flow of water and oil. One bacteria that has been studied, Leuconostoc mesenteroides, has the unusual behavior that when it is injected into a porous medium and fed sucrose, it greatly reduces the flow (i.e., damages the formation and reduces permeability). When the bacteria are fed fructose or glucose, there is no damage to the porous medium. [R. Lappan and H.S. Fogler, SPE Prod. Eng., 7(2), 167-171 (1992)]. The cell concentration, CC, is given below as a function of time for different initial sucrose concentrations.

(a)  From the data below, determine the lag time, the time to reach the stationary phase, the Michaelis constant, KS, and the reaction velocity,, as a function of sucrose concentration.

(b)  Will an inhibition model of of the form

where n and are parameters, fit your data?

Cell Concentration Data