Reinforced preformed particle gel: Synthesis, characterization and performance evaluation for water shut-off jobs in heterogeneous reservoir

Abstract

Preformed Particle Gels (PPGs) are used in water shutoff jobs to control excessive water production, insulate high permeable streaks and improve oil recovery in mature oil fields. This research article talks about the effect of reinforcement of nanoparticles i.e., nano sodium montmorillonite (Na-MMT) clay in R-PPGs (Reinforced Preformed Particle Gels). In this research article, R-PPGs were synthesized using Acrylamide as a monomer, N, N′-methylenebis (acrylamide) as a crosslinker, Potassium Persulfate (KPS) as an initiator and nano Na-MMT as a reinforcement material. Chemical characterization of synthesized R-PPG has been done by Powder X-ray Diffraction (PXRD), solid-state 13C Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM) and Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). Swelling ratio increases due to reinforcement of nano Na-MMT clay into R-PPGs. The rheological studies gave a clear interpretation of increment in the strength of R-PPG than that of conventional PPGs (i.e., PPGs without reinforcement). Moreover, the experimental results indicated that R-PPG reduced water production in single-sandpack flooding up to 78% and had a significant profile improvement rate of approximately 91% for a permeability contrast ratio of 3.64 in parallel-sandpack flooding. Therefore, R-PPGs may be a promising agent for water shutoff jobs in the heterogeneous reservoir.