The Effect of Shear Rate on Dynamic Gelation of Phenol Formaldehyde Resin Gel in Porous Media

Abstract

Polymer gel is the most widely used plugging agent in profile control, whose formula and injected speed are very important process parameters. It is very significant to study the effect of shear rates on the dynamic gelation of polymer gel in porous media for selecting suitable formula and injection speed. Taking the phenol formaldehyde resin gel with static gelation time of 21 h in ampoule bottle as research objective, it was studied the dynamic gelation process and subsequent water flooding in porous media under different injected speeds by a circulated equipment. The results shown that final dynamic gelation time is 2.4 times longer than the static gelation time in porous media. The gel particles are formed and mainly accumulated in the near wellbore zone after dynamic gelation. Injection speed has little effect on the dynamic gelation time in porous media, but has a great effect on the gel strength. The effect of injection speed on dynamic gel strength is evaluated by established the quantitative relationship between shear rate and dynamic gel strength. According to subsequent water flooding results, gel particles have certain plugging capacity in the near wellbore zone. The plugging ability declines obviously with an increasing injection speed. The experimental results provide theoretical support for the successful application of polymer gel used in profile control.

Study on Water-Soluble Phenolic Resin Gels for High-Temperature and High-Salinity Oil Reservoir

“…To solve the above problems, common method is to inject selective plugging agents into high-permeability channels such as fractures [ 2 , 3 ]. Phenolic gel is one of the most commonly used plugging agents, the use of which is mainly divided into two methods: one is to make gelants by adding phenol and aldehyde solutions to the polymer solutions [ 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ]; the other is to directly add a water-soluble phenolic resin solution into the polymer solutions [ 2 , 3 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 ].…”

“…Compared with the phenol–aldehyde crosslinking system gels, the latter can be prepared at a low cost. At present, some scientists have studied some gelling behaviors using water-soluble phenolic resin to replace the phenol–aldehyde crosslinking agent system [ 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 ]. According to the microstructure of chrome gel and phenolic resin gel prepared by Zhang et al [ 16 ], the network structure of the phenolic resin gel is more prone to deformation under external forces.…”

“…The gel had good long-term stability after 180 days of heat treatment, and the strength was more than 10 Pa. In 2022, the impact of shear rate on the gelling behavior of phenolic resin gel in porous media was investigated by Yu et al [ 21 ]. The findings revealed that the dynamic gel time was minimally influenced by the injection speed, whereas the gel strength was significantly affected.…”

Coalescence Behavior of a CO2-Resistant Dispersed Particle Gel (SCDPG) in Supercritical CO2

“…However, its strength and stability are not too high enough to affect the effect of gas channeling control . The gel is formed in the reservoirs, which is greatly influenced by reservoir pH (2–4) and shearing. , The uncertain gelation time and gel strength may lead to ineffective plugging. PPG is a particle control agent, which is prepared on the ground with a controlled particle size and strength.…”

Gelling Behavior of PAM/Phenolic Crosslinked Gel and Its Profile Control in a Low-Temperature and High-Salinity Reservoir

“…Gelation agents are water-soluble polymers, such as polyacrylamide and polyethylene imine, of which polyacrylamide and its derivatives are the most commonly used. For crosslinking agents, there are two main types [ 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 ]: (1) organic metal crosslinking agents, such as Cr 3+ , Zr 4+ and Al 3+ , can be crosslinked with the carboxylic acid group in the polymer molecule; (2) organic crosslinking agents, such as formaldehyde-phenol and phenolic resin, can be crosslinked with amide groups in polymer molecules. At present, research on gel focuses on middle and deep reservoirs, whereas there are few studies on shallow reservoirs with low temperature and high salinity.…”