No abstract

TX 75083-3836, U.S.A., fax 01-972-952-9435. AbstractTwo microgel samples were prepared by crosslinking an acrylamide-based terpolymer solution with a non-toxic zirconium crosslinker under controlled shear flow. The characteristics of these two microgel samples were determined by using different laboratory techniques in order to evaluate their performances for water shutoff or profile control operations. The microgel size was measured by Photon Correlation Spectroscopy (PCS) in dilute regime and at small scattering vector. As predicted by our theoretical model, microgel size decreases as the -1/3 power of applied shear rate. The size of these microgels is almost independent of pH, salinity and temperature in the domain investigated. Their mechanical and thermal stability is also satisfactory. In addition, such microgels can be easily injected into porous media without any sign of plugging. All these results suggest that these microgels should be good candidates for water shutoff and profile control operations. However, a further investigation is required to optimize their preparation to obtain the desired properties for a given application.