The presence of microorganisms could alter the porous medium permeability, which is vital for several applications, including aquifer storage and recovery (ASR), enhanced oil recovery (EOR) and underground hydrogen storage. The objective of this work was to investigate the effect of bacteria and their metabolism products on clogging using micromodels under elevated pressure and temperature and anaerobic conditions. Novel micromodels (real-structure) were fabricated based on μCT images of a Bentheimer core plug to mimic the reservoir conditions. As a result, in situ bacteria growth, biomass accumulation, biofilm formation and gas production were observed in the micromodel throughout the flooding experiments. During the injection, microbes were partly transported (planktonic) through the micromodel and the sessile attached to the model surface, causing a reduction in permeability (PRF). The results showed that the PRFs in artificial-structure micromodels are in line with the Kozeny–Carman model. Meanwhile biomass straining in small pore throats shows a more significant impact on the permeability reduction in real-structure micromodels. The injection of tracer particles after incubation showed a water flow diversion that confirmed bioclogging in the micromodels. The bioclogging evaluation presented in this work improved the understanding of the clogging process in porous media and can support ASR and EOR studies on a larger scale before field implementation.

中文翻译：

---

使用微流控技术研究微生物诱导的多孔介质堵塞

微生物的存在可能会改变多孔介质的渗透性，这对于多种应用至关重要，包括含水层的存储和回收（ASR），提高的石油采收率（EOR）和地下氢存储。这项工作的目的是研究使用微生物模型在升高的压力，温度和厌氧条件下，细菌及其代谢产物对堵塞的影响。基于Bentheimer岩心塞的μCT图像来模拟储层条件，从而制作了新型微模型（真实结构）。结果，原位在整个注水实验中，在微模型中观察到细菌生长，生物量积累，生物膜形成和产气。在注射过程中，微生物部分迁移（浮游生物）通过微模型，并且无柄附着在模型表面，从而导致渗透率（PRF）降低。结果表明，人工结构微模型中的PRF与Kozeny-Carman模型一致。同时，小孔喉中的生物量过滤对真实结构微观模型中的渗透率降低显示出更大的影响。孵育后注入示踪颗粒显示出水流转移，证实了微模型中的生物阻塞。