A Novel Branched Polymer Gel System with Delayed Gelation Property for Conformance Control

Abstract

Excessive water production from oil reservoirs not only affects the economical production of oil, but it also results in serious environmental concerns. Polymer gels have been widely applied to decrease water production and thus improve oil production. However, traditional polymer gels such as partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (HPAM)/chromium (III) gel systems usually have a short gelation time and cannot meet the requirement of some conformance control projects. This paper introduces a novel polymer gel system of which crosslinking time can be significantly delayed. A branched polymer grafted from arginine by the surface initiation method is synthesized as the backbone, chromium acetate is used as the crosslinker, and no additional additives are used for the gel system. The results show that the gelation time of this system can be delayed to 61 days at 45°C and 20 days at 65°C because of the rigid structure of the branched polymer and the excellent chromium (III) chelating ability of arginine. The polymer gels have been stable for more than 150 days at 45 and 65°C. Coreflooding and rheology tests have demonstrated that this branched polymer has good injectivity and shear resistance in high-permeability rocks.

Department(s)

Chemistry

Second Department

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering

Keywords and Phrases

Drilling Fluid Chemistry; Water Management; Drilling Fluid Selection And Formulation; Chemical Flooding Methods; Oilfield Chemistry; Drilling Fluid Property; Fluid Loss Control; Polymer; Upstream Oil & Gas; Conformance Improvement

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

1930-0220

Document Type

Article - Journal

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2022 Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), All rights reserved.

Publication Date

16 Feb 2022

Link to Full Text

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