Engineering Behavior and Characteristics of Water-Soluble Polymers: Implication on Soil Remediation and Enhanced Oil Recovery

Shuang Cindy Cao, Bate Bate, Jong Wan Hu and Jongwon Jung
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Shuang Cindy Cao: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA
Bate Bate: Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, MO 65409, USA
Jong Wan Hu: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Incheon National University, Incheon 22012, Korea
Jongwon Jung: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA

Sustainability, 2016, vol. 8, issue 3, 1-16

Abstract: Biopolymers have shown a great effect in enhanced oil recovery because of the improvement of water-flood performance by mobility control, as well as having been considered for oil contaminated-soil remediation thanks to their mobility control and water-flood performance. This study focused on the wettability analysis of biopolymers such as chitosan (85% deacetylated power), PEO (polyethylene oxide), Xanthan (xanthan gum), SA (Alginic Acid Sodium Salt), and PAA (polyacrylic acid), including the measurements of contact angles, interfacial tension, and viscosity. Furthermore, a micromodel study was conducted to explore pore-scale displacement phenomena during biopolymer injection into the pores. The contact angles of biopolymer solutions are higher on silica surfaces submerged in decane than at atmospheric conditions. While interfacial tensions of the biopolymer solutions have a relatively small range of 25 to 39 mN/m, the viscosities of biopolymer solutions have a wide range, 0.002 to 0.4 Pa·s, that dramatically affect both the capillary number and viscosity number. Both contact angles and interfacial tension have effects on the capillary entry pressure that increases along with an applied effective stress by overburden pressure in sediments. Additionally, a high injection rate of biopolymer solutions into the pores illustrates a high level of displacement ratio. Thus, oil-contaminated soil remediation and enhanced oil recovery should be operated in cost-efficient ways considering the injection rates and capillary entry pressure.

Keywords: biopolymer; enhanced oil recovery; contact angle; interfacial tension; micromodel; capillary pressure (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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