Enhancement of flow assurance by the degradation of wax using pseudomonas fluorescens

Conventional oil reserves are under production past several years, leaving the higher end hydrocarbons (paraffins/waxes) in the reservoir. The separation and deposition of these waxy components in the production and surface facilities are predominant when the system temperature reduces below the wax appearance temperature (WAT) during the flow of crude oil from a reservoir to the surface. It is, therefore, necessary to address various challenges posed by long chain paraffins using an economical, versatile, and eco-friendly technique. In the current scenario, microbial degradation of paraffins has gained considerable attention because of its environmentally friendly and operationally safer nature than other methods for sustainable development. In this study, the bio-surfactant producing microorganism Pseudomonas fluorescens, isolated from the marine port in Chennai, India, is used to degrade a wax sample, namely eicosane. The viscosity reduction and the delay in wax appearance temperature has been noticed. This study also analyzes the physico-chemical characteristics of the bio-surfactant produced by the microbe. The degradation of long chain paraffin to short chain molecule is confirmed by the gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GCMS) result. From the GCMS results, it has been observed that 93% of the wax degraded in 10 days. The amount of bio-surfactant produced by the microbe is found to be as high as 9.5 g/L. The high surface tension reduction, production of higher amount of bio-surfactant, viscosity reduction and high rate of degradation indicates the potential of the microbe in flow assurance, oil-spill, enhanced oil recovery, etc.