An experimental study of the in-situ gelation of chromium(+3)-polyacrylamide polymer in porous media
Gelled polymers are being used increasingly as reservoir flow control agents to improve the water-to-oil ratio in waterflooding. To date, little has been published in the open literature on the insitu gelation of polymers in porous media. This work was undertaken to study the process of in-situ gelation of a gel system consisting of a polyacrylamide polymer, sodium dichromate and thiourea. The experiments consisted of continously injecting gel solutions into one-foot unconsolidated sandpacks. Pressure distributions along the flow direction were used to interpret the nature of gelation in the porous media. It was found that gelation in porous media occured much earlier than anticipated from beaker tests where gel solutions were under conditions of no shear. For example, a gel solution with a nominal 10-day gel time in a beaker gelled in 85 hours in a porous medium run. Shear was thought to be one of the major factors affecting the in-situ gelation rate and it was determined that gelation times decreased with increasing insitu shear rates. Under the same in-situ shear rate, the in-situ gelation times were approximately equal in sandpacks prepared from different grain sizes. The order in which in-situ gelation occurred along the flow direction indicated that the shear history had an effect on gelation time. Effluents from displacements with gel solutions were analyzed to evaluate the change in the properties of a gel solution as it moved through the porous media. The chemical analysis indicated that the retention of polymer was marked after the in-situ gelation developed.
- Research Organization:
- CTCI/CPDC Catalyst Research Center
- OSTI ID:
- 6827364
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-8304162-
- Journal Information:
- Soc. Pet. Eng. AIME, Pap.; (United States), Vol. SPE/DOE12638; Conference: 4. SPE/DOE symposium on enhanced oil recovery, Tulsa, OK, USA, 16 Apr 1983
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
CHROMATES
GELATION
PHASE STUDIES
DISPLACEMENT FLUIDS
OIL WELLS
MICROEMULSION FLOODING
WATERFLOODING
POLYAMIDES
SODIUM COMPOUNDS
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
ENHANCED RECOVERY
FLOW RATE
IN-SITU PROCESSING
POROSITY
QUALITATIVE CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
RESERVOIR ROCK
SHEAR
TIME DEPENDENCE
ALKALI METAL COMPOUNDS
CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
CHROMIUM COMPOUNDS
FLUID INJECTION
FLUIDS
MISCIBLE-PHASE DISPLACEMENT
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC POLYMERS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
POLYMERS
PROCESSING
RECOVERY
TRANSITION ELEMENT COMPOUNDS
WELLS
020300* - Petroleum- Drilling & Production