Flow of mixtures of poly(ethylene oxide) and hydrolyzed polyacrylamide solutions through porous media

Abstract

In this work, the porous media flow of polymer solutions of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO), hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (HPAA), and their blends is investigated. Aqueous solutions of PEO exhibit critical extension thickening when flowing through porous media. HPAA solutions also exhibit critical extension thickening in excess salt environments, but their behavior changes to a more gradual extension thickening when dissolved in deionized water. The mixtures of solutions of HPAA and PEO therefore vary its porous media flow behavior, depending on the ionic environment. In deionized water, a critical extension thickening similar to that obtained with PEO is still observed when HPAA is mixed in at concentrations low enough so that its apparent viscosity does not mask the influence of PEO. In the presence of salt, only a critical extension thickening is observed, which is attributed to transient network formation of both PEO and HPAA molecules. The mixtures generally exhibit a less critical behavior and display a lower than expected sensitivity of the onset Reynolds number for extension thickening with concentration. The results presented herein indicate that interspecies molecular interactions through transient network formation and the associated flow modification play a major role in determining the complex non-Newtonian flow behavior of these polymer solutions.

Elastic turbulence generates anomalous flow resistance in porous media

“…S4. This anomalous increase and eventual peak in the macroscopic flow resistance parallels previous reports (3,(6)(7)(8)(9)(10).…”

Mechanical stability of high‐molecular‐weight polyacrylamides and an (acrylamido tert‐butyl sulfonic acid)–acrylamide copolymer used in enhanced oil recovery

“…However, this effect of molecular weight on polymer degradation is consistent with the results of other investigators . One of the possible explanations of this effect of molecular weight is the ability of the higher‐molecular‐weight polymers to form shear‐induced entanglements between the polymer molecules . These microstructures (or shear‐induced microgels) protect the chains from being individually subjected to the high straining stresses.…”

“…13,22 One of the possible explanations of this effect of molecular weight is the ability of the higher-molecular-weight polymers to form shear-induced entanglements between the polymer molecules. [25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33] These microstructures (or shear-induced microgels) protect the chains from being individually subjected to the high straining stresses. This might also justify the lower degradation experienced by NPAM06 in 2% KCl compared with the 1% KCl solution.…”

Flow of Emulsions Stabilized by Polymers Through Packed Bed

“…The macroscopic behavior of high molecular weight flexible polymer solutions (HPAM, PEO) when flowed through porous media have been reported a number of times (Haas and Kulicke 1985;Kauser et al 1999). During the flow of fluids of this type through the packed bed, there is a rapid rise in the apparent viscosity (apparent thickening region) above a certain value of the apparent shear rate ̇a pp,onset .…”

“…Extensional deformation occurring during fluid flow through the packed bed is a result of the presence of a converging-diverging flow path. In the extensional flow, after a certain fluid velocity is exceeded, the polymer chains are stretched, which is taken to explain the increase in pressure drops (Haas and Kulicke 1985;Sáez et al 1994;Da Rocha et al 1999;Kauser et al 1999). Another cause for the sudden increase in pressure drops may be the presence of elastic instability (Howe et al 2015;Clarke et al 2015;Kawale et al 2017).…”