Aim: Polymer flooding is a promising chemical enhanced oil recovery. Originally it was thought that polymer flooding was not economical. The polymer flooding in Daqing field China has proved otherwise. After that, it was thought that polymer flooding could only be successful in light oil reservoirs, but then polymer flooding was implemented in Pelican field in Canada on a large scale and recorded success. Methodology: The methodology employed was to review polymer flooding from inception, beginning from the work of Kingsley Detling in 1944 who got a patent in the USA to late 1970’s, thus early history of polymer flooding was a good insight for this paper. The mechanism of polymer flooding was also captured; improving the mobility ratio of water with a water soluble polymer is what helps for better sweep efficiency. The successful polymer flooding in Daqing field China has made many companies to understand this technology and go for polymer flooding. Polymer flooding of Daqing field has helped China’s oil and gas industry. Polymer flooding is now used to recover heavy oil especially for deep reservoirs with thin pay zone. Pelican field in Canada has carried out the largest polymer flooding implementation in the world and has proven that polymer flooding can be used for heavy oil and given a new screening parameter for polymer flooding. Results: This review has captured the critical aspects of polymer flooding both in light oil reservoirs-Daqing field, China and heavy oil reservoirs-Pelican field, Canada. Conclusion: This review has proven that polymer flooding is a promising Chemical Enhanced Oil Recovery technology in both light oil and heavy oil reservoirs and it is used to increase the ultimate recovery of some fields and could help any country to remain relevant in the oil and gas sector. Using polymer flooding to recover heavy oil proves more efficient and more economical. Because, polymer flooding does not require a lot of heat as in thermal flooding, there is reduction in global green house gas effect. Recommendation: It is recommended that companies use polymer flooding to recover their oil from light oil reservoirs and most importantly increase production and recovery in heavy oil fields.
Aim: Polymer flooding is used for enhanced oil recovery. Only polymers that can withstand harsh environments work best. HPAM is mostly the polymer used for enhanced oil recovery because it is available and cheap, but it does not withstand high temperatures and high salinity reservoirs. Xanthan Gum withstands high temperatures and high salinity reservoirs, but it is expensive and plugs the reservoir. The aim of this study is to compare the salinity stability of gum Arabic and Terminalia Mantaly, a novel biopolymer, with commercial Xanthan gum. Study Design: Locally formulated biopolymers from gum Arabic exudates bought from Bauchi State in Nigeria and from Terminalia Mantaly exudates obtained from the University of Port Harcourt. The appropriate rheological tests were carried out at the laboratory. Place and Duration of Study: The laboratory experiments were carried out at the department of Petroleum Engineering, Covenant University, Ota in Ogun State of Nigeria between 2020 and 2021. Methodology: The gum Arabic, Terminalia Mantaly and Xanthan Gum powders were dissolved in deionized water to get various concentrations in ppm. The polymers were mixed and kept for 24 hours to achieve a homogenous solution. The Automated OFITE® Viscometer at different revolutions per minute (RPM) of 3 (Gel), 6, 30, 60, 100, 200, 300, and 600 was used to measure the rheological properties of the various concentrations before Sodium Chloride (NaCl) and Calcium Chloride (CaCl2) of various concentrations were added and allowed to hydrate for another 24 hours before measuring their rheological properties again. Results: The study showed that Xanthan Gum, Gum Arabic, and Terminalia Mantaly biopolymers can be used in high salinity reservoirs. Terminalia Mantaly, a novel biopolymer, is insensitive to salinity in monovalent and divalent ions. Conclusion: Xanthan gum exhibited high viscosity even at low concentrations. Gum Arabic exhibited good tolerance to salinity at NaCl 3.5%. Terminalia Mantaly was very stable with both monovalent and divalent ions. Divalent ions have more effects on polymers than monovalent ions in reservoirs. Recommendation: It is recommended that Terminalia Mantaly be investigated more, as it can replace imported biopolymers for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR).
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