Microbial growth in the water injection system is a well-known problem with severe
operational and financial consequences for the petroleum industry, including microbiologically
influenced corrosion (MIC), reduced injectivity, reservoir plugging,
production downtime, and extensive repair costs. Monitoring of system microbiology
is required in any mitigation strategy, enabling operators to apply and adjust
countermeasures properly and in due time. In previous studies [1] [2], DNA staining
technology with SYBR Green dye was evaluated to have a sufficient detection limit
and automation potential for real-time detection of microbial activity in the Saudi
Aramco injection seawater. In this study, technical requirements and design solutions
were defined, and an autonomous microbe sensor (AMS) prototype was constructed,
tested and optimized in the laboratory, and validated in the field for automated
detection of microorganisms in the harsh Saudi Arabia desert environment
and injection seawater. The AMS prototype was able to monitor and follow the general
microbial status in the system, including detection of periods with increased microbial
growth or decreased microbial numbers following biocide injection. The infield
AMS detection limit was 105 cells/mL. The long-term field testing also identified
the areas for technical improvement and optimization for further development of a
more robust and better performing commercial microbial sensing device.
References
[1]
Moniee, M.A., Juhler, S., Sorensen, K., Zhu, X.Y., Lundgaard, T., Abeedi, F.N. and Sanders, P.F. (2016) Laboratory-Scale Evaluation of Single Analyte Bacterial Monitoring Strategies in Water Injection Systems. Journal of Sensor Technology, 6, 11-26. http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/jst.2016.62002
[2]
Moniee, M.A., Zhu, X.Y., Tang, L., Juhler, S., Nuwaiser, F.I., Sanders, P.F. and Abeedi, F.N. (2016) Optimization of DNA Staining Technology for Development of Autonomous Microbe Sensor for Injection Seawater Systems. Journal of Sensor Technology, 6, 27-45. http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/jst.2016.63003
[3]
Ren, H., Wang, W., Liu, Y., Liu, S., Lou, L., Cheng, D., He, X., Zhou, X., Qiu, S., Fu, L., Liu, J. and Hu, B. (2015) Pyrosequencing Analysis of Bacterial Communities in Biofilms from Different Pipe Materials in a City Drinking Water Distribution System of East China. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 99, 10713-10724. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00253-015-6885-6
[4]
Moniee, M.A., Juhler, S., Sorensen, K., Abeedi, F.N., Lundgaard, T. and Sanders, P.F. (2014) A Review of Saudi Aramco’s Water Flooding System and Methods for Monitoring Microbial Activity. Proceedings of 15th Middle East Corrosion Conference, Bahrain, 2-5 February 2014, 1-19.
[5]
Dragan, A.I., Pavlovic, R., McGivney, J.B., Casas-Finet, J.R., Bishop, E.S., Strouse, R.J., Schenerman, M.A. and Geddes, C.D. (2012) SYBR Green I: Fluorescence Properties and Interaction with DNA. Journal of Fluorescence, 22, 1189-1199. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10895-012-1059-8
[6]
Dragan, A.I., Casas-Finet, J.R., Bishop, E.S., Strouse, R.J., Schenerman, M.A. and Geddes, C.D. (2010) Characterization of PicoGreen Interaction with dsDNA and the Origin of Its Fluorescence Enhancement upon Binding. Biophysical Journal, 99, 3010-3019. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bpj.2010.09.012
[7]
Noble, R.T. and Fuhrman, J.A. (1998) Use of SYBR Green I for Rapid Epifluorescence Counts of Marine Viruses and Bacteria. Aquatic Microbial Ecology, 14, 113-118. http://dx.doi.org/10.3354/ame014113
[8]
Singer, V.L., Jones, L.J., Yue. S.T. and Haugland, R.P. (1997) Characterization of PicoGreen Reagent and Development of a Fluorescence-Based Solution Assay for Double-Stranded DNA Quantitation. Analytical Biochemistry, 249, 228-238. http://dx.doi.org/10.1006/abio.1997.2177
[9]
Shibata, A., Goto, Y., Saito, H., Kikuchi, T., Toda, T. and Taguchi, S. (2006) Comparison of SYBR Green I and SYBR Gold Stains for Enumerating Bacteria and Viruses by Epifluorescence Microscopy. Aquatic Microbial Ecology, 43, 223-231. http://dx.doi.org/10.3354/ame043223
[10]
LabVIEW (2015) Version 15.0f2 (64-Bit). National Instruments Corporation, Austin. http://www.ni.com/labview/
[11]
Marie, D., Partensky, F., Jacquet, S. and Vaulot, D. (1997) Enumeration and Cell Cycle Analysis of Natural Populations of Marine Picoplankton by Flow Cytometry Using the Nucleic Acid Stain SYBR Green I. Applied Environmental Microbiology, 63, 186-193.
[12]
Tranvik, L.J. (1997) Rapid Fluorometric Assay of Bacterial Density in Lake Water and Seawater. Limnology and Oceanography, 42, 1629-1634. http://dx.doi.org/10.4319/lo.1997.42.7.1629
[13]
Maruyama, A. and Sunamura, M. (2000) Simultaneous Direct Counting of Total and Specific Microbial Cells in Seawater, Using a Deep-Sea Microbe as Target. Applied Environmental Microbiology, 66, 2211-2215. http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/AEM.66.5.2211-2215.2000
[14]
Kapuscinski, J. (1995) DAPI: A DNA-Specific Fluorescent Probe. Biotechnic & Histochemistry, 70, 220-233. http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/10520299509108199
[15]
Tarnowski, B.I., Spinale, F.G. and Nicholson, J.H. (1991) DAPI as a Useful Stain for Nuclear Quantitation. Biotechnic & Histochemistry, 66, 296-302. http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/10520299109109990
Price, P.B. and Bay, R.C. (2012) Marine Bacteria in Deep Arctic and Antarctic Ice Cores: A Proxy for Evolution in Oceans over 300 Million Generations. Biogeosciences, 9, 3799-3815. http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/bg-9-3799-2012
[18]
Worden, A.Z., Nolan, J.K. and Palenik, B. (2004) Assessing the Dynamics and Ecology of Marine Picophytoplankton: The Importance of the Eukaryotic Component. Limnology and Oceanography, 49, 168-179. http://dx.doi.org/10.4319/lo.2004.49.1.0168
[19]
Rohde, R.A. (2009) The Development and Use of the Berkeley Fluorescence Spectrometer to Characterize Microbial Content and Detect Volcanic Ash in Glacial Ice. PhD Thesis, University of California, Berkeley.
[20]
Davey, H.M. and Kell, D.B. (1996) Flow Cytometry and Cell Sorting of Heterogeneous Microbial Populations: The Importance of Single-Cell Analyses. Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews, 60, 641-696.
[21]
Gasol, J.M., Zweifel, U.L., Peters, F., Fuhrman, J.A. and Hagstro, A. (1999) Significance of Size and Nucleic Acid Content Heterogeneity as Measured by Flow Cytometry in Natural Planktonic Bacteria. Applied Environmental Microbiology, 65, 4475-4483.
[22]
Sgorbati, S., Barbesti, S., Citterio, S., Bestetti, G. and de Vecchi, R. (1996) Characterization of Number, DNA Content, Viability and Cell Size of Bacteria from Natural Environments Using DAPI PI Dual Staining and Flow Cytometry. Minerva Biotecnologica, 8, 9-15.
[23]
Gasol, J.M., del Giorgio, P.A., Massana, R. and Duarte, C.M. (1995) Active versus Inactive Bacteria: Size-Dependence in a Coastal Marine Plankton Community. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 128, 91-97. http://dx.doi.org/10.3354/meps128091