|
Abstract
|
Partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (HPAM) is widely employed in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) process. However, its effectiveness is hindered by degradation of polymer molecules during flow through injection lines, valves and reservoir. This degradation leads to a decrease in average molecular weight and subsequently reduces the solution’s viscosity and viscoelastic properties, impacting its effectiveness on displacing oil. In this work, the degree of mechanical degradation of HPAM solutions was characterized by shear and extensional rheology. The degradation of polymer solutions was induced by flowing them through a valve with varying constriction and flow rates. The effect of incorporation of silica (SiO ) nanoparticles into HPAM solutions was explored as a way to mitigate mechanical degradation. The results reveals that the addition of nanoparticles has a negligible effect on the shear and extensional viscosities of fresh solutions and minimizes mechanical degradation of HPAM solutions. The shear and extensional viscosities of the fresh and degraded solutions with the addition of nanoparticles were very similar. The rheological properties of HPAM solutions with SiO2 2nanoparticles are not strongly affected by mechanical degradation that occurs in the flow through injection lines, valves and inside the reservoir, which increases the efficiency of polymer injection in EOR processes
|