Starch-acrylamide graft copolymers for use in enhanced oil recovery. Paper SPE 8422

Technical Report · Mon Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1979

OSTI ID:5648728

Pledger, H Jr; Meister, J J; Butler, G B

Starch-acrylamide, graft copolymers are effective but shear-sensitive viscosifiers which, when synthesized with 18 or less grafts per starch molecule, duplicate the rheology of acrylamide homopolymer of 1 to 3 times higher molecular weight. Solutions of copolymer must be prepared at shear rates below 100 sec/sup -1/ and loss up to 40% of their viscosity when filtered through 0.45 ..mu.. pores. Copolymers with 18 or less grafts per starch molecule have higher intrinsic viscosities, higher solution viscosities, and higher solution screen factors than equal molecular weight homopolymers and all three properties of the copolymer increase with increasing molecular weight or decreasing number of grafts. The viscosity of copolymer solutions drops by less than 3% when sodium chloride concentration varies from 0 to 10,000 ppM or calcium ion concentration varies from 0 to 1000 ppM. Solutions of copolymer may lose up to 60% of original viscosity from 100 shearings at a rate of 4300 sec/sup -1/. Sensitivity to shear increases with increasing molecular weight and, at constant molecular weight, increases with decreasing number of grafts. Loss of solution viscosity under successive shearings can be expressed with a modified Williams-Watts equation. 25 references, 17 figures, 1 table.

• Research Organization: Florida Univ., Gainesville (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AS05-78ER05947
• OSTI ID: 5648728
• Report Number(s): CONF-790913-11; ON: DE84004248
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020300* -- Petroleum-- Drilling & Production
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
360401 -- Polymers & Plastics-- Preparation & Fabrication-- (-1987)
360403 -- Materials-- Polymers & Plastics-- Mechanical Properties-- (-1987)
360404 -- Materials-- Polymers & Plastics-- Physical Properties-- (-1987)
ACRYLAMIDE
AMIDES
CARBOHYDRATES
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
COPOLYMERIZATION
COPOLYMERS
DATA
ENERGY SOURCES
ENHANCED RECOVERY
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
GRAFT POLYMERS
INFORMATION
NUMERICAL DATA
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC POLYMERS
PETROLEUM
POLYMERIZATION
POLYMERS
POLYSACCHARIDES
REAGENTS
RECOVERY
SACCHARIDES
SHEAR
STARCH
USES
VISCOSITY