Using bioelectrochemical approaches to study microbes associated with oil and gas operations

Microbial activities in oil and gas operations can be beneficial or detrimental which economically impact the energy industry. Microorganisms can be responsible for souring and microbiologically influenced corrosion which damage oil and gas infrastructure, but they can also play a beneficial role in enhancing energy production, recovering chemicals from waste streams, bioremediation, and biofuel production. The threat of global warming and diminishing fossil fuel resources is creating an ever-increasing drive to implement new technologies for renewable fuel production. We propose to design a simple bioelectrochemical system (BES) in order to study different metabolic activities of microorganisms associated with oil and gas systems. Bioelectrochemical systems can interconvert electrical and chemical energy enabling electricity generation, biofuel and chemical synthesis, wastewater treatment, desalination, microbial corrosion monitoring, and bioremediation. The innovation of the proposed research is in the use of BES systems to carry out multiple desirable tasks simultaneously. TO BE CONT’D

Faculty Supervisor:

Lisa Gieg

Student:

Mohita Sharma

Partner:

Shell Global Solutions

Discipline:

Biology

Sector:

Life sciences

University:

Program: