Comparative Study of Green and Synthetic Polymers for Enhanced Oil Recovery

Abstract

Several publications by authors in the field of petrochemical engineering have examined the use of chemically enhanced oil recovery (CEOR) technology, with a specific interest in polymer flooding. Most observations thus far in this field have been based on the application of certain chemicals and/or physical properties within this technique regarding the production of 50–60% trapped (residual) oil in a reservoir. However, there is limited information within the literature about the combined effects of this process on whole properties (physical and chemical). Accordingly, in this work, we present a clear distinction between the use of xanthan gum (XG) and hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (HPAM) as a polymer flood, serving as a background for future studies. XG and HPAM have been chosen for this study because of their wide acceptance in relation to EOR processes. To this degree, the combined effect of a polymer’s rheological properties, retention, inaccessible pore volume (PV), permeability reduction, polymer mobility, the effects of salinity and temperature, and costs are all investigated in this study. Further, the generic screening and design criteria for a polymer flood with emphasis on XG and HPAM are explained. Finally, a comparative study on the conditions for laboratory (experimental), pilot-scale, and field-scale application is presented.

Green Enhanced Oil Recovery for Carbonate Reservoirs

“…The XG is by a Xanthomonas campestris bacterium produced in a fermentation process. It is environmentally friendly and relatively cheaper than Schizophyllan and Sclerogucan [ 59 ]. That is why it is selected for this work.…”

State‐Of‐The‐Art Quantification of Polymer Solution Viscosity for Plastic Waste Recycling

“…In these regions, polymer solutions behave as Newtonian fluids and are characterized by a zero‐shear viscosity ( η 0 ) and infinite shear viscosity ( η ∞ ) at low and high shear rates, respectively (Figure 4 ). [30] These regions have been defined by some authors as lower and upper Newtonian regions,[ 31 , 34 , 35 , 36 ] in which the lower and upper terms are referring to the shear rate and not the viscosity. [36] Other authors have addressed this by using the terms 1st and 2nd Newtonian plateau.…”

Modification of Xanthan Gum for a High-Temperature and High-Salinity Reservoir

“…This stage involves the injection of fluid (waterflooding or gas flooding) for pressure maintenance, and it has no impact on the rock properties. At a point where the secondary process becomes uneconomical, the unrecovered oil in the form of residual oil is usually produced via a tertiary recovery process known as enhanced oil recovery (EOR) [ 3 ]. This residual oil, produced via EOR, could be categorized as isolated oil droplets, oil film, residual oil in dead-ends, residual oil in pore throats, or clusters [ 4 , 5 ].…”

“…Though these recently applied groups of green polymers have exhibited excellent rheological properties in drilling and EOR studies, their application cost is considered to be the foremost barrier to operationalizing some of them, especially scleroglucan and schizophyllan. With this in mind, some authors have argued that the best choice of polymer depends on its performance and economic value [ 3 ]. Other advantages of xanthan gum and natural gum over scleroglucan and schizophyllan have been reported in various studies [ 19 , 22 ].…”