Experimental Investigation of a Mechanically Stable and Temperature/Salinity Tolerant Biopolymer toward Enhanced Oil Recovery Application in Harsh Condition Reservoirs

Chunming Xiong, Falin Wei, Song Zhang, Cheng Cai, Jing Lv, Liming Shao and Dianlin Wang
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Chunming Xiong: Petrochina Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration & Development, Beijing 100083, China
Falin Wei: Petrochina Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration & Development, Beijing 100083, China
Song Zhang: Petrochina Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration & Development, Beijing 100083, China
Cheng Cai: Petrochina Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration & Development, Beijing 100083, China
Jing Lv: Petrochina Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration & Development, Beijing 100083, China
Liming Shao: Petrochina Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration & Development, Beijing 100083, China
Dianlin Wang: College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu 610500, China

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 5, 1-13

Abstract: In search of robust polymers for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) application in reservoirs with harsh conditions, a water-soluble biopolymer was thoroughly investigated in this work to evaluate its applicability in such reservoirs. The experimental data revealed that compared to the commonly used EOR polymer, HPAM, the biopolymer was more efficient in thickening a brine solution as a result of its peculiar conformation. The presence of an electrolyte has almost no effect on the rheology of the biopolymer solution, even at an extremely high salt concentration (20 wt% NaCl). The relation between viscosity and the concentration curve was well fitted to the power-law model. Moreover, the rigid polymer chains rendered the polymer solution superior tolerance to elevated temperatures and salinity, but also led to considerable retention within tight porous media. The adsorption behavior was characterized by the average thickness of the hydrodynamic adsorbed layer on sand grains. The mechanical degradation was assessed by forcing the polymer solutions to flow through an abrupt geometry at ultra-high shear rates. The slight viscosity loss compared to HPAM proved the high mechanical stability of this polymer. These properties made it a promising alternative to HPAM in polymer flooding in the near future for high permeability oil reservoirs with harsh conditions.

Keywords: polymer flooding; biopolymer; mechanical stability; enhanced oil recovery; harsh condition reservoirs (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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