Plant Origin Gum Biopolymers as Displacement Fluids in Enhanced Oil Recovery

Abstract

Three types of gums of plant origin taken from young trunks of fir, cherry and acacia trees were used in the presented research. The collected plant origin gums were dissolved separately for 24 h with continuous stirring, filtered and redried and grinded into powder and their solutions with concentrations of 250, 500, 1000 and 2000 mg/L were prepared. The viscosities of gum of plant origin in fresh water and in the presence of salt and surfactant, as well as the dependence of these viscosities on the amount of plant origin gum and temperature, were studied. It was determined that it is impossible to achieve a viscosity of 80 mPa×s when the density of cherry gum is lower than 5 g/L. At concentrations of 3.5 g/L and 2.0 g/L, acacia and fir gums give the solution a viscosity of ~80 mPa×s. It has been shown that all three biopolymers retain their physico-chemical properties up to 2400C, and solutions made from gums can be used for compression of oil even in high-temperature wells