Encyclopedia of Polymer Applications

Abstract

Polymers are widely used in oil and gas industry for a range of petroleum production applications. Their viscoelastic and solution thickening properties have particularly made them a chemical of choice for petroleum production applications. This chapter explores and discusses various types of polymers used in the oil and gas industry for petroleum production applications. The chapter focusses on chemical treatment optimisation, water shut for enhanced hydrocarbon production and reduced water production and enhanced oil recovery, and provides a treatise of rheological characterisation methods and models for these polymers. 1.0 Introduction to Petroleum Production Operations Petroleum production operation encompasses all the technical and engineering activities that take place during the production phase of an oilfield to maintain existing level of production or improve production. It involves all activities involved in the process of hydrocarbon flow from the reservoirs into the well, through the well and out into the surface facilities. The aim of production operation is therefore to ensure optimum production of hydrocarbon from the composite production system based on the modelled inflow performance relationship (IPR) and vertical lift performance (VLP) through proactive operational and engineering management of the entire production system. This includes management of the reservoirs, wells and surface facilities; diagnosis of any production limiting problems and design and implementation of engineering and/or management solutions to solve these problems. Activities such as sand control, mineral scale control and treatment, wax, hydrate and asphaltene control and treatment, well production testing, production logging, well perforation, enhanced oil recovery, improved oil recovery, acidizing, hydraulic fracturing, acid fracturing, water shut off, reservoir pressure maintenance, gas lift etc. are classified as Petroleum Production Operation. Broadly, these activities can be categorised into stimulation, chemical treatment, water control, enhanced oil recovery and artificial lift

Downward migrating microplastic in lake sediments is a tricky indicator for the onset of the Anthropocene

“…The breakthrough of biodegradable plastics took place in the 1990s 31 . Depending on the environment, temperature, size and shape of the particles, the biodegradable plastics (such as PLA and PHB recorded from our samples) degradation in the environment can take several years 32,33 .…”