Progress of Research into Preformed Particle Gels for Profile Control and Water Shutoff Techniques.

Gel treatment is an economical and efficient method of controlling excessive water production. The gelation of in situ gels is prone to being affected by the dilution of formation water, chromatographic during the transportation process, and thus controlling the gelation time and penetration depth is a challenging task. Therefore, a novel gel system termed preformed particle gels (PPGs) has been developed to overcome the drawbacks of in situ gels. PPGs are superabsorbent polymer gels which can swell but not dissolve in brines. Typically, PPGs are a granular gels formed based on the crosslinking of polyacrylamide, characterized by controllable particle size and strength. This work summarizes the application scenarios of PPGs and elucidates their plugging mechanisms. Additionally, several newly developed PPG systems such as high-temperature-resistant PPGs, re-crosslinkable PPGs, and delayed-swelling PPGs are also covered. This research indicates that PPGs can selectively block the formation of fractures or high-permeability channels. The performance of the novel modified PPGs was superior to in situ gels in harsh environments. Lastly, we outlined recommended improvements for the novel PPGs and suggested future research directions.

Synthesis and Characterization of an Novel Intercalated Polyacrylamide/Clay Nanocomposite.

Solving the problem of the low temperature and low salt resistances of conventional polyacrylamide and the high cost of functional monomers, and thus, introducing it to the interlayer space provided by a layered structure for polymer modification, is a promising option. In this study, montmorillonite was used as the inorganic clay mineral, and an intercalated polyacrylamide/clay nanocomposite was synthesized via in situ intercalation polymerization. The optimal synthesis conditions were a clay content of 10.7%, preparation temperature of 11 °C, initiator concentration of 2.5 × 10-4 mol/L, and chain extender concentration of 5%. The IR results showed that the polymer was successfully introduced to the nanocomposite. The synthesized intercalated polyacrylamide/clay nanocomposite exhibited a better thickening effect, good viscoelasticity, and better salt resistance and thermal stability than polyacrylamide. In addition, the thickening capacity and thermal stability were superior to the salt-resistant polymer, with a 16.0% higher thickening viscosity and a 15.1% higher viscosity retention rate at 85 °C for 60 d. The intercalated polyacrylamide/clay nanocomposite further expanded the application of polyacrylamide in petroleum exploitation.

A Novel Supercritical CO2 Foam System Stabilized With a Mixture of Zwitterionic Surfactant and Silica Nanoparticles for Enhanced Oil Recovery.

In order to improve the CO2 foam stability at high temperature and salinity, hydrophilic silica nanoparticles (NPs) were added into a dilute zwitterionic surfactant solution to stabilize supercritical CO2 (SC-CO2) foam. In the present paper, the foaming capacity and stability of SC-CO2 foam were investigated as a function of NP concentration at elevated temperatures and pressures. It was observed that the drainage rate of SC-CO2 foam was initially fast and then became slower with NPs adsorption at the gas-liquid interface. The improved foam stability at high temperature was attributed to the enhanced disjoining pressure with addition of NPs. Furthermore, an obvious increase in the foam stability was noticed with the increasing salinity due to the screening of NP charges at the interface. The rheological characteristics including apparent viscosity and surface elasticity, resistance factor, and microstructures of SC-CO2 foam were also analyzed at high temperature and pressure. With addition of 0.7% NPs, SC-CO2 foam was stabilized with apparent viscosity increased up to 80 mPa·s and resistance factor up to 200. Based on the stochastic bubble population (SBP) model, the resistance factor of SC-CO2 foam was simulated by considering the foam generation rate and maximum bubble density. The microstructural characteristics of SC-CO2 foam were detected by optical microscopy. It was found that the effluent bubble size ranged between 20 and 30 µm and the coalescence rate of SC-CO2 foam became slow with the increasing NP concentration. Oscillation measurements revealed that the NPs enhanced surface elasticity between CO2 and foam agents for resisting external disturbances, thus resulting in enhanced film stability and excellent rheological properties.

Mechanism of Polyacrylamide Hydrogel Instability on High-Temperature Conditions.

A gel system composed of acrylamide (AM), N,N'-methylenebisAM (BIS), and ammonium persulfate ((NH4)2S2O8) was developed and applied extensively in reservoirs to reduce water cut and increase oil production in mature fields. However, this gel system suffers from thermal stability loss and syneresis at high temperatures that reduces its ability to control water flow. It has been widely accepted that the loss of gel thermal stability can be explained via three aspects: the rupture of polymer chains, the breakage of cross-linker chains, and hydrolysis of polymer. The mechanism of hydrogel syneresis through polymer hydrolysis has been investigated extensively in other publications. However, research on the other two mechanisms is quite limited. In this article, we conduct a series of experiments to demonstrate how the rupture of polymer and cross-linker chains leads to the hydrogel instability at high temperatures. Viscosity and energy-dispersive system measurements suggested that polyAM chains were disrupted by the oxidation reactions involving free radicals. The method to measure the cross-linking degree was established and in combination with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements, the results showed that cross-linker chains were broken as a result of weaker C-N bond resulting from positively charged mesomethylene carbon and hydrolysis of amide groups on the cross-linker. Because of the application of deionized water in the experiments, nuclear magnetic resonance and FTIR measurements showed that the hydrolysis degree of polymer was weak. Hence, our results verified that breakage of polymer and cross-linker chains led to the rupture of the gel network at high temperature. Besides, cross-linker chains may play a more important role in the thermal stability of the gel, which explains some work into high-temperature-resistant gels.