Study of action mechanisms and properties of Cr3+ cross-linked polymer solution with high salinity

Abstract

Performance characteristics of partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (HPAM) and cross-linked polymer (CLP, Cr3+ as the cross linker) solutions have been investigated. A Brookheld viscometer, rheometer, dynamic light scattering system, and core flow device have been used to measure the viscosity, viscoelasticity, polymer coil dimensions, molecular configuration, flow characteristics, and profile modification. The results show that, under conditions of high salinity and low HPAM and Cr3+ concentrations, cross-linking mainly occurred between different chains of the same HPAM molecule in the presence of Cr3+, and a cross-linked polymer (CLP) system with a local network structure was formed. Compared with an HPAM solution of the same concentration, the apparent viscosity of the CLP solution increased slightly or remained almost unchanged, but its viscoelasticity (namely storage modulus, loss modulus, and first normal stress difference) increased, and the resistance coefficient and residual resistance coefficient increased significantly. This indicates that the CLP solution exhibits a strong capability to divert the sequentially injected polymer flood from high-permeability zones to low-permeability zones in a reservoir. Under the same HPAM concentration conditions, the dimensions of polymer coils in the CLP solution increased slightly compared with the dimensions of polymer coils in HPAM solution, which were smaller than the rock pores, indicating that the cross-linked polymer solution was well adapted to reservoir rocks. Core flood experiments show that at the same cost of reagent, the oil recovery by CLP injection (HPAM-1, Cr3+ as the cross linker) is 3.1% to 5.2% higher than that by HPAM-2 injection.