Effect of the nanoparticles in the stability of hydrolyzed polyacrylamide/resorcinol/formaldehyde gel systems for water shut‐off/conformance control applications

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe main objective of this work is to evaluate the inclusion of nanoparticles to partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide/resorcinol/formaldehyde gel systems to improve the stability under static and dynamic conditions. Oxide nanoparticles (<100 mg·L−1) of SiO2, Al2O3, MgO, and Cr2O3 were employed and characterized by their physicochemical properties. Gels were prepared and subsequently placed at 70 °C for evaluating the nanoparticles influence in gel strength through rheological properties and syneresis measurements. Al2O3 nanoparticles showed the highest potential for the reduction of the syneresis phenomena, followed by MgO and Cr2O3. The SiO2 nanoparticles lead to a higher degradation of the gel. As the zeta potential increases, the syneresis of the gel system decreases. The nanoparticles did not significantly affect the storage modulus, describing similar gel strength than the original gel. Also, displacement tests showed an incremental of 64% of oil recovery regarding the system in the absence of Al2O3 nanoparticles. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019, 136, 47568.