A Study of Factors Influencing Polymer Hydrodynamic Retention in Porous Media

Zhao, Chunxiao; Du, Cheng; Kurnia, Ivan; Lou, Junjie; Zhang, Guoyin; Yu, Jianjia; Lee, Robert L.

doi:10.2118/179607-ms

Cited by 21 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…The increase in hydrodynamic retention for lower M W polymer is suggesting that more polymer molecules will reside in a stagnant zone if their size is small. However, the results are different than the once which were observed by Chen et al [27]. The difference can be explained on the basis of the order of magnitude difference in permeability of the cores in the two studies.…”

Section: Resultscontrasting

confidence: 84%

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An Experimental Study on Hydrodynamic Retention of Low and High Molecular Weight Sulfonated Polyacrylamide Polymer

et al. 2019

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Polymers are often added with water as a viscosifier to improve oil recovery from hydrocarbon reservoirs. Polymer might be lost wholly or partially from the injected polymer solution by adsorption on the grain surfaces, mechanical entrapment in pores, and hydrodynamic retention in stagnant zones. Therefore, having a clear picture of polymer losses (and retention) is very important for designing a technically and economically successful polymer flood project. The polymer adsorption and mechanical entrapment are discussed more in depth in the literature, though the effect of hydrodynamic retention can be just as significant. This research investigates the effect of the hydrodynamic retention for low and high molecular weight (AN 113 VLM and AN 113 VHM) sulfonated polyacrylamide polymer. Two high permeability Bentheimer core plugs from outcrops were used to perform polymer corefloods. Polymer retention was first determined by injecting 1 cm3/min, followed by polymer core floods at 3, 5, and 8 cm3/min to determine the hydrodynamic retention (incremental retention). A higher molecular weight polymer (AN 113 VHM) showed higher polymer retention. In contrast, hydrodynamic retention for lower molecular weight (AN 113 VLM) was significantly higher than that of the higher molecular weight polymer. Other important observations were the reversibility of the hydrodynamic retention, no permanent permeability reduction, the shear thinning behavior in a rheometer, and shear thickening behavior in core floods.

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Section: Resultscontrasting

confidence: 84%

“…The hydrodynamic retention for HPAM polymers was fairly reported in the literature [27,28]. So far, there is no study reported the hydrodynamic retention performance of the sulfonated polymers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

An Experimental Study on Hydrodynamic Retention of Low and High Molecular Weight Sulfonated Polyacrylamide Polymer

et al. 2019

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“… The packing and ageing methodology have a significant impact on the overall results [ 24 ]. Retention can be flow rate dependent, especially in low permeability rock [ 16 , 25 ]. The correlation between retention values and inaccessible pore volume in the core is still unclear [ 18 ].…”

Section: Determination Of Retention: Review Of Procedures and Challengesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Polymer Retention Determination in Porous Media for Polymer Flooding in Unconsolidated Reservoir

Ilyasov¹,

Koltsov

Golub³

et al. 2021

Polymers

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Polymer flooding is a well-established technique aimed at improved recovery factors from oilfields. Among the important parameters affecting the feasibility of a large deployment, polymer retention is one of the most critical since it directly impacts the oil bank delay and therefore the final economics of the project. This paper describes the work performed for the East-Messoyakhskoe oilfield located in Northern Siberia (Russia). A literature review was first performed to select the most appropriate methodology to assess polymer retention in unconsolidated cores at residual oil saturation. 4 polyacrylamide polymers were selected with molecular weights between 7 and 18 M Da and sulfonated monomer (ATBS) content between 0 and 5% molar. An improved 2-fronts dynamic retention method along with total organic carbon—total nitrogen analyzers were used for concentration measurement. Retention values vary between 93 and 444 The sentence could be rephrased μg/g, with the lowest given by the polymers containing ATBS, corroborating other publications on the topic. This paper also summarizes the main learnings gathered during the adaptation of laboratory procedures and paves the way for a faster and more efficient retention estimation for unconsolidated reservoirs.

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“…and 12A5 were used for the retention experiments 1 and 2, performed with HPAM 3230S solutions, respectively. These samples were selected from their petrophysical similarities with the samples used in the previous retention works using the polymer HPAM 3230S (Zheng et al, 2000;Zhang and Seright, 2014;Zhang and Seright, 2015;Wan and Seright, 2016;Chen et al, 2016). .…”

Section: Dynamic Retention Tests Hpam 3230s Experiments Sandstone Samentioning

confidence: 99%

Less-Concentrated HPAM Solutions as a Polymer Retention Reduction Method in CEOR

Lizcano¹,

Ferreira²,

Moreno³

2020

Rev. fuentes reventón enrg.

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Polymer Flooding has become one of the most implemented EOR techniques, due to three factors: First, Polymer flooding has expanded the range of the screening criteria parameters. Second, this EOR method is more effective than water injection, while handling water management issues in high water-cut reservoirs. Nevertheless, polymer retention can turn a viable technical project into an uneconomical one. Polymer loss due to retention is an inevitable phenomenon, which happens during injection processes. The development of experimental analysis aiming to minimize or reduce polymer loss from the displacing fluid bank is beneficial to broaden the application of this CEOR method. This experimental work evaluated the injection schemes aiming to reduce polymer retention in porous media. The approach consisted of injecting less-concentrated polymer banks followed for the main polymer bank designed for mobility control. An experimental methodology to quantify polymer retention due to each injected polymer bank, cumulative polymer retention, resistance factor, residual resistance factor and inaccessible pore volume (IPV) was developed. The measurement process was based on the injection of 20 PV polymer banks at a constant flow rate of 1ml/min at 25°C, separated by 30 PV brine banks. Two HPAM with molecular weights of 6-8 million and 20 million Daltons using 350mD and 5000 mD sandstone cores were tested, respectively. The HPAM solutions considering a Colombian field (0.7% NaCl) and seawater (3.5% TDS) salinities were prepared. All rock samples were previously submitted to the injection of 50 PV for preventing fines migration. Two injection schemes with variable polymer concentrations were performed: The first one in which the polymer concentration increased in each successive bank, and the second one in which the concentration decreased. HPAM concentration solutions from 50 ppm to 2000 ppm were sequentially used in both injection schemes. By comparing the results of these two schemes, the effect of the injection of the less-concentrated polymer solutions was evaluated. For the increasing concentration experiments, cumulative retention values of 175.7 μg/g and 58.9 μg/g were calculated for the low-molecular weight polymer and the high-molecular weight polymer, respectively. While comparing with decreasing concentration experiments, for the high-molecular weight HPAM a 19% of retention reduction was evidenced, but no retention reduction was observed for the low-molecular weight one. The results indicate that different retention mechanisms are strongly dependents on the absolute permeability of the samples. Additionally, IPV values of 0.5 PV and 0.25 PV were calculated using low and high permeability samples, respectively. There was no linear relation between the absolute permeability reduction and the polymer concentration of the first bank injected into the sample. The novelty of this work is to use sacrificial banks of less-concentrated HPAM solutions as a reducing retention agent for the polymer bank designed for mobility control.

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A Study of Factors Influencing Polymer Hydrodynamic Retention in Porous Media

Cited by 21 publications

References 11 publications

An Experimental Study on Hydrodynamic Retention of Low and High Molecular Weight Sulfonated Polyacrylamide Polymer

An Experimental Study on Hydrodynamic Retention of Low and High Molecular Weight Sulfonated Polyacrylamide Polymer

Polymer Retention Determination in Porous Media for Polymer Flooding in Unconsolidated Reservoir

Less-Concentrated HPAM Solutions as a Polymer Retention Reduction Method in CEOR

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