Laboratory investigations in the use of polymers in low permeability reservoirs

Conference · Tue Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1974 · Soc. Pet. Eng. AIME, Pap.; (United States)

OSTI ID:7019174

Martin, F D

Many of the reservoirs under consideration for polymer injection contain very low permeability sandstones and limestones. Because of the large size of the polymer molecules considered, the use of polymers in tight formations must be closely scrutinized. Laboratory results investigating the viability of polymer treatment in low permeability sandstone and carbonate field cores are presented. Polymer resistance factor, residual resistance factor, and retention data are reported for a partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide and for a new copolymer of acrylamide. In comparing the field reservoir cores evaluated, a considerable difference was seen in the behavior of polymers in sandstone vs. limestone. The hydrolyzed polyacrylamide evaluated was able to penetrate low permeability limestone cores but caused severe plugging in sandstone cores of similarly low permeability (K/sub air/ = 7 md - 59 md). In the case of sandstone, the copolymer of acrylamide was able to penetrate low permeability cores while hydrolyzed polyacrylamide of the same viscosity could not. (27 refs.)

• Research Organization: Calgon Corp.
• OSTI ID: 7019174
• Report Number(s): CONF-7410175-
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Soc. Pet. Eng. AIME, Pap.; (United States) Journal Volume: SPE-5100
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020300* -- Petroleum-- Drilling & Production
ACRYLAMIDE
ADDITIVES
AMIDES
BENCH-SCALE EXPERIMENTS
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
ENHANCED RECOVERY
FLUID INJECTION
NATURAL GAS WELLS
OIL WELLS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
PERMEABILITY
RECOVERY
RESERVOIR ROCK
STIMULATION
WELL STIMULATION
WELLS