A Newly Developed Mathematical Model to Predict Hydrolyzed Polyacrylamide Crosslinked Polymer Gel Plugging Efficiency in Fractures and High Permeability Features
Abstract
Reservoir heterogeneity is one of the most challenging problems facing the hydrocarbon industry nowadays. It results in excess water production and a substantial reduction in oil recovery from water flooding applications. Gel treatment is one of the most successful applications to overcome reservoir heterogeneity problems by plugging high permeability features in a reservoir. One of the most widely used gels is the Hydrolyzed Polyacrylamide-Chromium Acetate Gel (HPAM/CrAc). This research uses data from 70 sources, including more than 1050 experiments, to perform a thorough data analysis to understand the conditions under which this gel is mainly applied. Histograms, and boxplots were generated revealing the ranges under which this gel can be applied, and the frequency of each range. The histograms and boxplots are each divided into the gel properties, and the core and sand pack properties, thus revealing both the chemical and rock properties' ranges. Three dendrograms were also developed based on their equivalent cluster plots generated. The dendrograms can show the different ranges at which the data was distributed and also tell the extent to which each range is related to the other. A mathematical model was also generated and validated in this study. This model gives a relation between the polymer concentration and the oil residual resistance factor (Frro). This model is extremely important since it can predict the effect of polymer concentration on the reduction of the oil permeability, which can help avoid the excessive reduction in oil permeability. The gel was found to have very good disproportionate permeability reduction (DPR), which indicates that it can reduce the permeability of water much more that the permeability of oil. This research can help in revealing the conditions under which the HPAM/CrAc gel can be applied, which in turn can significantly improve the design of field projects.
Recommended Citation
S. Fakher and B. Bai, "A Newly Developed Mathematical Model to Predict Hydrolyzed Polyacrylamide Crosslinked Polymer Gel Plugging Efficiency in Fractures and High Permeability Features," Proceedings of the SPE Trinidad and Tobago Section Energy Resources Conference (2018, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago), Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), Jun 2018.
Meeting Name
SPE Trinidad and Tobago Section Energy Resources Conference 2018 (2018: Jun. 25-26, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago)
Department(s)
Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering
Keywords and Phrases
Chromium compounds; Crosslinking; Energy resources; Graphic methods; Hydrolysis; Oil well flooding; Polymers; Well flooding, Cross-linked polymers; Disproportionate permeability reductions; Hydrocarbon industry; Hydrolyzed polyacrylamides; Polymer concentrations; Reservoir heterogeneity; Residual resistance factor; Substantial reduction, Petroleum reservoir engineering
Document Type
Article - Conference proceedings
Document Version
Citation
File Type
text
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 2018 Society of Petroleum Engineers, All rights reserved.
Publication Date
06 Jun 2018