Degradable Nanocomposite Preformed Particle Gel for Chemical Enhanced Oil Recovery Applications
Abstract
In this work, we present a preformed particle hydrogel with a more superior performance than conventional hydrogels with potential conformance control applications in mature oilfields. Preformed particle hydrogel was designed by the reaction of monomer, initiator, crosslinker, additives, and laponite XLG nanoclay, whereas conventional hydrogel is designed from just monomer, initiator, crosslinker and additives. The presence of nanomaterial in hydrogel design affords it tremendous improvement in nanocomposite gel properties and behavior compared to conventional hydrogels without any nanomaterial. On incorporation of nanomaterial, increase in gel strength of up to 394% was observed. Additionally, swelling performance, post-degraded gel viscosity, and long-term thermal resistance of nanocomposite gel increased by several orders of magnitude compared to hydrogels with no nanomaterial. Environmental Scanning Electron Microscopy (ESEM) revealed the presence of a very dense 3-D network compared to hydrogels with no nanomaterial. It was observed that after degradation, nanocomposite hydrogel had a post-degradation viscosity of 4437. cp whereas hydrogel with no nanomaterial had a post-degradation viscosity of 170. cp. Thus, degradable laponite XLG nanocomposite hydrogels are recommended for secondary polymer flooding, since they have a high post-degradation viscosity under anaerobic conditions.
Recommended Citation
P. Tongwa and B. Bai, "Degradable Nanocomposite Preformed Particle Gel for Chemical Enhanced Oil Recovery Applications," Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, vol. 124, pp. 35 - 45, Elsevier, Dec 2014.
The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.petrol.2014.10.011
Department(s)
Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering
Keywords and Phrases
Conformance Control; EOR; Nanocomposite Gels; Polymer Flooding
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
0920-4105
Document Type
Article - Journal
Document Version
Citation
File Type
text
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 2014 Elsevier, All rights reserved.
Publication Date
01 Dec 2014