NSERC Industrial Research Chair in Petroleum Microbiology

满足日益增长的能源需求是一项艰巨的挑战。化石燃料（石油、天然气、煤）是我们能源供应的主要来源。替代品（风能、太阳能、生物燃料）的替代预计在未来10年内不会出现，因为这些替代品的重要性只会缓慢增长。与此同时，我们必须以尽可能经济和环保的方式生产和消费化石燃料。在生产方面，微生物学可以做出决定性的贡献。在过去4年中，NSERC石油微生物学研究中心：（一）发展了防止在低温油田中注入硝酸盐形成有毒硫化氢（酸化）的认识和技术;（二）证明微生物将用于防止管道腐蚀的亚硫酸氢盐转化为腐蚀性硫，使治愈比疾病更糟糕，并且从钢中产生乙酸的微生物在腐蚀中很活跃;（iii）发现油砂露头中含有大量嗜热微生物，这是由于这些环境在炎热的夏季达到高温（60 ℃）。基于这些成功，建议与11个行业合作伙伴在三个领域继续开展研究。在硫循环管理领域，我们将量化近注入井筒区域和大部分储层对高温油藏酸化的贡献。在防腐领域，我们将确定乙酸的氧化或防止其形成是否是提高管道安全性的有前途的策略，而在提高生产方面，我们将使用乙酸的催化能力。（嗜热）微生物，以降低从油砂生产沥青的环境影响。这也将有助于继续负责任地开发加拿大的化石燃料资源。

Meeting the ever-increasing demand for energy is a difficult challenge. Fossil fuels (oil, gas, coal) are the main staple of our energy supply. A replacement by alternatives (wind, solar, biofuels) is not expected in the next 10 years, as these will only slowly grow in importance. In the meantime we must produce and consume fossil fuels in ways that are as economical and environmentally friendly as possible. On the production side microbiologycan definitively contribute. In the past 4 years the NSERC IRC in Petroleum Microbiology has:(i) developed understanding and technology to prevent formation of toxic hydrogen sulfide (souring) by nitrate injection in low temperature oil fields;(ii) demonstrated that microbes transform bisulfite, used to prevent pipeline corrosion, to corrosive sulfur making the cure worse than the disease, and that microbes producing acetic acid from steel are active in corrosion;(iii) found that oil sands outcrops harbor a high fraction of thermophilic microbes, due to the high temperatures (60C) reached in these environments on hot summer days.Based on these successes, continuing research is proposed in three areas in collaboration with 11 industry partners. In the area of Sulfur Cycle Management, we will quantify the contributions of the near injection wellbore region and of the bulk of the reservoir to souring in high-temperature oil reservoirs. In the area of Corrosion Prevention we will determine whether oxidation of acetic acid, or preventing its formation, is a promising strategy to enhance pipeline safety, whereas in the area of Improved Production we will use the catalytic power of (thermophilic) microbes to lower the environmental impact of bitumen production from oil sands.The training of a large number of HQP in Petroleum Microbiology, will also contribute to continued responsible development of Canada's fossil fuel resources.