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Systematic Evaluation of a Novel Self-Healing Poly(acrylamide-co-vinyl acetate)/Alginate Polymer Gel for Fluid Flow Control in High Temperature and High Salinity Reservoirs
Polymers
  • Jingyang Pu
  • Baojun Bai, Missouri University of Science and Technology
  • Thomas P. Schuman, Missouri University of Science and Technology
Abstract

Preferential fluid flow often occurs when water and CO2 is injected into mature oilfields, sig-nificantly reducing their injection efficiency. Particle gels have been evaluated and applied to control the short circulation problems. This study systematically investigated a novel poly(acrylamide-co-vinyl acetate)/alginate-based interpenetrated gel system (Alg-IPNG) which is designed to control the preferential fluid flow problems in high-temperature reservoirs. Chromium acetate was incorporated into the gel system to provide the delayed crosslinking feature of the particle gels. The alginate polymer system can also take advantage of the Ca2+ ions in the formation water, which exist in most reservoirs, to reinforce its strength by capturing the Ca2+ to form Ca-alginate bonds. In this paper, various characterizations for the Alg-IPNGs before and after the self-healing process were introduced: (1) the elastic modulus is set at up to 1890 Pa, and (2) the water uptake ratio is set at up to 20. In addition, we also discuss their possible self-healing and reinforcement mechanisms. In particular, the self-healing starting time of the Alg-IPNG particles are modified between 38 to 60 h, which is related to the water uptake ratio, Ca2+ concentration, and temperature. The reinforced Alg-IPNG gel has an enhanced thermal stability (180 days) at the temperature up to 110 ⁰C.

Department(s)
Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering
Second Department
Chemistry
Comments
Funding for this study was provided by ConocoPhillips, Occidental Petroleum, and Daqing Xinwantong Technology Developing Company, Limited.
Keywords and Phrases
  • Alg-IPNG particle,
  • Ca-alginate bond,
  • Chromium acetate,
  • Reinforcement,
  • Self-healing
Document Type
Article - Journal
Document Version
Final Version
File Type
text
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 2021 The Authors, All rights reserved.
Creative Commons Licensing
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
Publication Date
10-20-2021
Publication Date
20 Oct 2021
Citation Information
Jingyang Pu, Baojun Bai and Thomas P. Schuman. "Systematic Evaluation of a Novel Self-Healing Poly(acrylamide-co-vinyl acetate)/Alginate Polymer Gel for Fluid Flow Control in High Temperature and High Salinity Reservoirs" Polymers Vol. 13 Iss. 21 (2021) ISSN: 2073-4360
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/thomas-schuman/91/