The Viscoelastic Effect of Polymer on Tracer Dispersion

Abstract

Polymer flooding works as the main enhance oil recovery method in China, but tracer test interpretation during and after polymer flooding still uses the technology of water flooding. And a lot of problems exposed in the application Experimental study of tracer dispersion in viscoelastic fluid through porous media isreported. We use different viscoelastic non-Newtonian fluid with the same shear shinning properties as the carrier fluid. It is evident that viscoelastic property is also the key factor influences the velocity field and the dispersivity in non-Newtonian fluid. High Peclet number yields the enhancement of the viscoelastic effect on the dispersivity of the tracer. Compared to pure viscous fluid, polymer viscoelasticity may lead to a larger vortex and, thus, a larger sweeping volume and speed field difference which leads to a higher dispersivity.