Allyl-b-cyclodextrin is utilized to react with dimethyl diallyl ammonium chloride and acrylamide to synthesize a novel water-soluble cationic polymer by redox free-radical polymerization. The optimum polymerization conditions are determined by the single-variable method, while the structure is characterized by Fourier transform infrared and scanning electron microscopy. In rheological experiments the polymer demonstrates superior properties compared to polyacrylamide. Interfacial tension and adsorption experiments prove the excellent performance of the polymer which can effectively decrease the interfacial tension and reduce the surfactant loss caused by stratum absorption in the process of polymer/surfactant flooding, thus indicating the potential application of the polymer for enhancing oil recovery.

The effective pressure law for the intrinsic formation factor of low permeability sandstones from the Ordos Basin (northwest of China) was studied experimentally by measuring the electrical resistivity of brine saturated rock samples while cycling the pore and confining pressures, pp and pc. We used a 100,000 ppm NaCl solution so that the results could be directly interpreted in terms of the intrinsic formation factor F. The Response Surface method was used to construct a quadratic function of pp and pc fitting the experimental data, from which the coefficient α of the effective pressure law, peff = pc – αpp, was determined. We found that the coefficient α generally had low values, mainly from 0.2 to 0.4, thus contradicting the theoretical prediction that α should be equal to 1 for scale‐invariant properties, such as F, in linear elastic materials having a homogeneous solid matrix. Since the two underlying assumptions, linear elasticity and homogeneity of the solid matrix, are likely violated in reservoir rocks, we tried to assess their effects on α using simple analytical models, based on idealized geometries of the pore and solid phases. Analysis of these models suggests that non‐linear elasticity associated with the formation of solid–solid contacts in the compressed rocks (e.g., during closure of rough cracks or crack‐like pores along the grain boundaries), may be more effective in producing the low α values observed than inhomogeneity of the solid matrix.