On the Role of Polymer Viscoelasticity in Enhanced Oil Recovery: Extensive Laboratory Data and Review

Rock, A.; Hincapie, Rafael E.; Tahir, Muhammad; Langanke, Nils; Ganzer, Leonhard

doi:10.3390/polym12102276

Cited by 44 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 129 publications

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“…The annual polymer flooding oil production accounts for more than 30% of the total oil production. Polymer flooding has great potential for increasing oil production [ 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of Polymer Viscoelasticity on Microscopic Remaining Oil Production

et al. 2022

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To investigate the impact of polymer viscoelasticity on microscopic remaining oil production, this study used microscopic oil displacement visualisation technology, numerical simulations in PolyFlow software, and core seepage experiments to study the viscoelasticity of polymers and their elastic effects in porous media. We analysed the forces affecting the microscopic remaining oil in different directions, and the influence of polymer viscoelasticity on the displacement efficiency of microscopic remaining oil. The results demonstrated that the greater the viscosity of the polymer, the greater the deformation and the higher the elasticity proportion. In addition, during the creep recovery experiment at low speed, the polymer solution was mainly viscous, while at high speed it was mainly elastic. When the polymer viscosity reached 125 mPa·s, the core effective permeability reached 100 × 10−3 μm2, and the equivalent shear rate exceeded 1000 s−1, the polymer exhibited an elastic effect in the porous medium and the viscosity curve displayed an ‘upward’ phenomenon. Moreover, the difference in the normal deviatoric stress and horizontal stress acting on the microscopic remaining oil increased exponentially as the viscosity of the polymer increased. The greater the viscosity of the polymer, the greater the remaining oil deformation. During the microscopic visualisation flooding experiment, the viscosity of the polymer, the scope of the mainstream line, and the recovery factor all increased. The scope of spread in the shunt line area significantly increased, but the recovery factor was significantly lower than that in the mainstream line. The amount of remaining oil in the unaffected microscopic area also decreased.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of Polymer Viscoelasticity on Microscopic Remaining Oil Production

et al. 2022

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“…Polymer flooding has been broadly applied as a major enhanced oil recovery (EOR) technology in numerous oilfields worldwide [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. Polymer flooding technology increases the displacement phase viscosity and reduces the displacement phase permeability, thereby improving unfavorable mobility ratios, controlling the displacement front edge, and enhancing the displacement and sweep efficiencies [ 4 , 5 , 6 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adsorption Characteristics of Polymer Solutions on Media Surfaces and Their Main Influencing Factors

Zhu

Liu

et al. 2021

Polymers

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In practical applications, the chemical and physical adsorption of a polymer solution greatly affects its action mode and effect. Understanding the adsorption mechanism and its influencing factors can help to optimize the application mode and ensure application efficiency. Three types of polymer solutions—partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (HPAM), hydrophobically associating polymer (AP-P4), and dendrimer hydrophobically associating polymer (DHAP), which are viscoelastic liquids—were used as sorbates to study their adsorption by a sorbent such as quartz sand. The effects of the solution concentration, contact time, particle size of quartz sand, solid–liquid ratio, and fluid movement on the adsorption capacity of the polymer solutions were examined. The results showed that HPAM presents a typical Langmuir monolayer adsorption characteristic, and its adsorption capacity (per unit area) is 1.17–1.62 μg/cm2. The association enhances the interactions of the AP-P4 and DHAP solutions, and they present multilayer characteristics of first-order chemical adsorption and secondary physical molecule adsorption. Moreover, the dendrite structure further increases the adsorption thickness of DHAP. Hence, the adsorption thicknesses of AP-P4 and DHAP are four and six times that of HPAM, respectively. The adsorption of the three polymers is consistent with the influence of fluid motion and decreases with increasing fluid velocity. However, the larger the thickness of the adsorption layer, the clearer the influence of the flow, and the higher the decrease in adsorption capacity. Optimizing the injection rate is an effective method to control the applications of a polymer in porous media.

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“…The characteristic of a biopolymer is determined by the properties of the monomers, linkages, and chemical modifications. Moreover, biopolymers exhibit a super thickening effect and are of low cost [ 18 ]. The raw materials are available in large quantities, and the processes of extraction and processing of the polymers by large-scale fermentation are relatively inexpensive.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Application of Polymers for Chemical Enhanced Oil Recovery: A Review

et al. 2022

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Polymers play a significant role in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) due to their viscoelastic properties and macromolecular structure. Herein, the mechanisms of the application of polymeric materials for enhanced oil recovery are elucidated. Subsequently, the polymer types used for EOR, namely synthetic polymers and natural polymers (biopolymers), and their properties are discussed. Moreover, the numerous applications for EOR such as polymer flooding, polymer foam flooding, alkali–polymer flooding, surfactant–polymer flooding, alkali–surfactant–polymer flooding, and polymeric nanofluid flooding are appraised and evaluated. Most of the polymers exhibit pseudoplastic behavior in the presence of shear forces. The biopolymers exhibit better salt tolerance and thermal stability but are susceptible to plugging and biodegradation. As for associative synthetic polyacrylamide, several complexities are involved in unlocking its full potential. Hence, hydrolyzed polyacrylamide remains the most coveted polymer for field application of polymer floods. Finally, alkali–surfactant–polymer flooding shows good efficiency at pilot and field scales, while a recently devised polymeric nanofluid shows good potential for field application of polymer flooding for EOR.

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On the Role of Polymer Viscoelasticity in Enhanced Oil Recovery: Extensive Laboratory Data and Review

Cited by 44 publications

References 129 publications

Influence of Polymer Viscoelasticity on Microscopic Remaining Oil Production

Influence of Polymer Viscoelasticity on Microscopic Remaining Oil Production

Adsorption Characteristics of Polymer Solutions on Media Surfaces and Their Main Influencing Factors

Application of Polymers for Chemical Enhanced Oil Recovery: A Review

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