Enhanced Separation of Oil and Solids in Oily Sludge by Froth Flotation at Normal Temperature

Oily sludge (OS) contains a large number of hazardous materials, and froth flotation can achieve oil recovery and non-hazardous disposal of OS simultaneously. The influence of flotation parameters on OS treatment and the flotation mechanism were studied. OS samples were taken from Shengli Oilfield in May 2017 (OSS) and May 2020 (OST), respectively. Results showed that Na2SiO3 was the suitable flotation reagent treating OSS and OST, which could reduce the viscosity between oil and solids. Increasing flotation time, impeller speed and the ratio of liquid to OS could enhance the pulp shear effect, facilitate the formation of bubble and reduce pulp viscosity, respectively. Under the optimized parameters, the oil content of OST residue could be reduced to 1.2%, and that of OSS could be reduced to 0.6% because of OSS with low heavy oil components and wide solid particle size distribution. Orthogonal experimental results showed that the impeller speed was the most significant factor of all parameters for OSS and OST, and it could produce shear force to decrease the intensity of C-H bonds and destabilize the OS. The oil content of residue could be reduced effectively in the temperature range of 24–45 °C under the action of high impeller speed.

Study on the impact of confining pressure on gas permeability of tight sandstone cores

Taking the tight sandstone core of Shengli Oilfield as the experimental sample, this paper studies the permeability variation of the tight sandstone under different confining pressures. The experimental results show that when the pore pressure is constant, the measured gas permeability of core decreases with the increase of confining pressure. Power function is more reasonable to describe the influence of confining pressure on permeability of tight sandstone between power function and exponential function. Analyze the impact of confining pressure on gas permeability of tight sandstone cores by using permeability change rate coefficient D and coefficient S.

A New Method for Calculating the Inflection Point Temperature of Heavy-Oil Rheology Transforming from Non-Newton Fluid into the Newton Fluid

The inflection point temperature of rheology (IPTR) of heavy oil transforming from a non-Newtonian fluid into a Newtonian fluid is a key parameter in the steam huff- and-puff process. It is particularly relevant in terms of optimizing injection parameters, calculating the heating radius, and determining well spaces. However, the current approach exhibits obvious shortcomings, such as the randomness of the selected tangent line and inadaptability for extra-heavy oil with high viscosity. Therefore, this paper presents a novel method for calculating IPTR using viscosity–temperature data. The approach is based on the Arrhenius equation and quantitatively evaluates the IPTR according to the inflection point of the apparent activation energy. The IPTR values of four heavy-oil samples obtained from the Bohai Oilfield in China were quantitatively predicted according to viscosity–temperature data using the proposed method. The method's accuracy was verified by a series of rheological investigations on samples obtained from two heavy-oil wells. Additionally, the new method was used to predict IPTR according to the published viscosity–temperature data of 10 heavy-oil samples from the Shengli Oilfield. Again, a good correspondence was found, and mean absolute and relative errors of 3°C and 4.6%, respectively, were reported. Therefore, the proposed model was confirmed to improve the prediction accuracy of the existing method, and provided a new method for calculating the IPTR of heavy-oil.

Thermosynergistes pyruvativorans gen. nov., sp. nov., an anaerobic, pyruvate-degrading bacterium from Shengli oilfield, and proposal of Thermosynergistaceae fam. nov. in the phylum Synergistetes

A strictly anaerobic, thermophilic, Gram-stain-negative bacterium, named as strain S15T, was isolated from oily sludge of Shengli oilfield in PR China. Cells of strain S15T were straight or slightly curved rods with 0.4–0.8 µm width × 1.4–3 µm length and occurred mostly in pairs or short chains. Endospore-formation was not observed. The strain grew optimally at 55 °C (range from 30–65 °C), pH 6.5 (pH 6.0–8.5) and 0–30 g l−1 NaCl (optimum with 10 g l−1 NaCl). Yeast extract was an essential growth factor for strain S15T. The major cellular fatty acid was iso-C15 : 0 (58.2 %), and the main polar lipids were amino phospholipid (APL), glycolipids (GLs) and phosphatidylethanolamine (PE). The G+C content of DNA of strain S15T was 52.2 mol%. Strain S15T shared 89.8 % 16S rRNA gene similarity with the most related organism Acetomicrobium hydrogeniformans DSM 22491T in the phylum Synergistetes . The paired genomic average amino acid identity (AAI) and percentage of conserved proteins (POCP) values showed relatedness of less than 58.0 and 39.7 % with type strains of the species in the phylum Synergistetes . On the basis of phenotypic, phylogenetic and phylogenomic evidences, strain S15T constitutes a novel species in a novel genus, for the name Thermosynergistes pyruvativorans gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is S15T (=CCAM 583T=JCM 33159T). Thermosynergistaceae fam. nov. is also proposed.

Complete Genome Sequence of Tsuneonella flava SS-21NJ, a Potential Oil Sludge Bioremediation Agent

ABSTRACT We report here the complete genome sequence of Tsuneonella flava strain SS-21NJ, which was isolated from oil sludge from Shengli Oilfield in Dongying, Shandong Province, China. These results provide basic information for functional genomics and oil degradation research of Tsuneonella strains.

New evidence for a hydroxylation pathway for anaerobic alkane degradation supported by analyses of functional genes and signature metabolites in oil reservoirs

Microbial degradation of recalcitrant alkanes under anaerobic conditions results in the accumulation of heavy oil fraction in oil reservoirs. Hydroxylation of alkanes is an important activation mechanism under anaerobic conditions, but the diversity and distribution of the responsible microorganisms in the subsurface environment are still unclear. The lack of functional gene polymerase chain reaction (PCR) primers and commercially available intermediate degradation chemical compounds are the major obstacles for this research. In this investigation, PCR primers for the ahyA gene (encoding alkane hydroxylase) were designed, evaluated, and improved based on the nucleotide sequences available. Using microbial genomic DNA extracted from oil-contaminated soil and production water samples of oil reservoirs, ahyA gene nucleotide sequences were amplified and retrieved successfully from production water sample Z3-25 of Shengli oilfield. Additionally, the signature biomarker of 2-acetylalkanoic acid was detected in both Shengli and Jiangsu oilfields. These results demonstrate that anaerobic hydroxylation is an active mechanism used by microorganisms to degrade alkanes in oxygen-depleted oil reservoirs. This finding expands the current knowledge of biochemical reactions about alkane degradation in subsurface ecosystems. In addition, the PCR primers designed and tested in this study serve as an effective molecular tool for detecting the microorganisms responsible for anaerobic hydroxylation of alkanes in this and other ecosystems.

Zhaonella formicivorans gen. nov., sp. nov., an anaerobic formate-utilizing bacterium isolated from Shengli oilfield, and proposal of four novel families and Moorellales ord. nov. in the phylum Firmicutes

A novel obligately anaerobic, thermophilic and formate-utilizing bacterium K32T was isolated from Shengli oilfield of China. Cells were straight rods (0.4–0.8 µm × 2.5–8.0 µm), Gram-stain-positive, non-spore-forming and slightly motile. Optimum growth occurred with pH of 7 and 0.5 g l–1 NaCl under temperature of 55–60 °C. Nitrate could be reduced into nitrite, syntrophic formate oxidation to methane and carbon dioxide occurred when co-culturing strain K32T and Methanothermobacter thermautotrophicus ΔH. The main cellular fatty acids were iso-C15 : 0 (24.0 %), anteiso-C15 : 0 (21.7 %), C16 : 0 (12.7 %) and C14 : 0 (10.8 %), and the main polar lipid was phosphatidylglycerol. The G+C content of the genomic DNA was 46.3 mol%. The 16S rRNA gene sequence of K32T shared ≤90.4 % of sequence similarity to closest type strains of Desulfitibacter alkalitolerans , Calderihabitans maritimus and members of the genus Moorella . Based on the phenotypic, biochemical and genotypic characterization, Zhaonella formicivorans gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed with K32T (=CCAM 584T =DSM 107278T=CGMCC1.5297T) as the type strain, which is the first representative of Zhaonellaceae fam. nov. In addition, the order Thermoanaerobacterales and family Peptococcaceae were reclassified, and three novel families in the novel order of Moorellales ord. nov. were also proposed.