Synthesis of Poly(AAm-<i>co</i>-AA) and Investigation of its Swelling Behavior: Using Response Surface Methodology (RSM)

Abstract

Unwanted water production together with oil and gas production is a striking problem in oil and gas industries, and many approaches have been examined to overcome this major problem. Preformed particle gels (PPGs) showed dramatically good properties for this purpose in mature oil and gas reservoirs. In this study, we carefully synthesized an efficient series of PPGs with using a design of experiments (DOE) software. Acrylamide (AAm)/Acrylic acid (AA) mole ratio, N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide (MBA) mole percentage and swelling time were considered as key parameters to examine PPG swelling behavior. Our results presented a detailed empirical correlation, which could significantly predict the swelling capacity of PPGs in CaCl 2 salt solution (200,000 ppm).

Determination of Swelling Behavior and Mechanical and Thermal Resistance of Acrylamide–Acrylic Acid Copolymers under High Pressures and Temperatures

“…The crosslinking process of PPGs occurs on the surface facilities, and then, the prepared PPGs are injected into the reservoir formation. PPGs swell in formation water between 30 and 200 times of their basic size with a controllable swelling rate and block the naturally or artificially created fractures. , The most important superiority of PPGs over the gelant is that the gelation time, an underlying factor for the success of conformance control, is precisely controllable in PPGs, while in gelants, it is significantly affected by reservoir conditions such as the pressure, temperature, pH, and salinity of the formation . Therefore, the major challenge in the gelant injection process is the uncertainty in its gelation time.…”