Oilfield Bactericide Parameters as Measured by ATP Analysis
Authors: Littmann E.S. 
Published: December 2007

American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers, Inc.
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Abstract
A technique for examination of microorganism numbers through the biochemical reaction of adenosine triphosphate with luciferin and luciferase is examined. The technique is then tested for application in oil field water systems. It is possible to quickly determine the extent of microbiological contamination and rapidly evaluate possible chemical agents for control of possible chemical agents for control of this problem.

Introduction
The detection and enumeration of microorganism (primarily bacteria) levels in industrial waters is becoming increasingly important with the rapidly rising cost of replacement of damaged materials (piping, pumps, etc.). pumps, etc.).Current methods for the detection of these microorganisms entail introduction of the water into a suitable growth medium and incubating the inoculated medium until metabolic by-products and/or cellular volume increase to a detectable level. This method has numerous drawbacks—primarily the selection of an incubation temperature and time, and selection of appropriate growth media. For example, the American Type Culture Collection lists 498 separate growth media in their Ninth Edition of the Catalogue of Strains. Nalco Chemical Company uses a combination of 8 media and incubation temperatures for microbiological analysis of many industrial waters which are mailed into several central laboratories.
Oil field injection waters do not lend themselves to this type of analysis, as the character of both the water and the microorganism content rapidly changes when samples are removed from systems (pressure changes, pH, O2 content, etc.). The most effective pH, O2 content, etc.). The most effective compromise to this problem has been the development of general growth media designed to promote the growth of as many varieties of organisms as possible. While there are numerous variations, most oil field growth media closely resemble the two types listed in the API Recommended Practices Bulletin 38(2), a general media for culture of aerobic organisms and a media for growth of the anaerobic sulfide-producing organism, Desulfovibrio. The primary limitation to the API approach is that many potentially harmful organisms are not detected and extended incubation periods are recommended for detection of the anaerobic sulfide bacteria (28 days).