Polymer Flooding for Enhanced Oil Recovery
Georgy Zerkalov
November 27, 2015
Submitted as coursework for PH240, Stanford University, Fall 2015
Introduction
In the world of growing energy demand,
oil plays the major role as the leading
source of primary energy. The global oil
consumption increased by 0.8 million b/d
to reach approximately 101 million
barrels consumed daily. The global
production increased by more than twice
the global consumption, by 2.1 million
bbl/day, which is 2.3%. [1] Furthermore,
the recent sharp decrease in oil prices
forced oil companies to rethink their
production strategies and optimize their
expenses based on the changed oil price
situation. While the exploration and
development of new oil reserves
continues, the implementation of EOR
techniques has becomes more and more
popular. According to Guenther Glatz,
the lifetime of a reservoir usually consists
of three phases: [2] initial (primary)
recovery with naturally driven oil
extraction mechanisms, secondary
recovery with techniques used to
maintain the reservoir pressure through
water or gas injection, and tertiary
recovery, often called enhanced oil Fig. 1: Fingering effect promoted by the
recovery with a wide array of specific unfavorable mobility ratio (top), and good oil
advanced techniques. When the recovery facilitated by the use of polymer
production well is established, only 20- flooding (bottom). (Source: G. Zerkalov)
40% of the potential oil can be extracted
through the first two phases. [3] The implementation of the EOR provides an
opportunity to extract up to 30% of the original oil reserve in the well. Furthermore, it
has been estimated that 2.0 × 10 12 barrels of conventional oil and 5.0 × 10 12 barrels of
heavy oil remain in reservoirs worldwide after the exhaustion of the applications of
conventional recovery methods. [4] The application of EOR helps extract these
reserves and guarantee a continuing supply of oil in the future. Typical EOR
mechanisms include chemical flooding, gas injection and thermal recovery. The
displacement methods include the addition of the displacing substance into the
reservoir through the injection well to displace the remaining oil. Chemical flooding
includes the addition of water with some chemicals (surfactants and polymers) to
enhance the oil displacement ability.
Mobility Ratio
After the second phase (water or gas injection) there is still considerable amount of oil
remaining, since it was not swept completely from the reservoir. One of the reasons
for that phenomenon, outlined by Glatz, is the unfavorable mobility ratio. [2] Mobility
ratio is defined as the ratio of mobility (λ) of the displacing fluid (water) to the
mobility of the displaced fluid (oil), where mobility is permeability (κ) divided by
viscosity (μ): [5]
λwater κwater / μwater
M= =
λoil κoil / μoil
Thus, there is an inverse relation between the volumetric sweep efficiency and the
mobility ratio. The value of M greater than unity is unfavorable, since this will cause
the instability of the displacement process and so called "viscous fingering" effect.
[2,5] Under the condition of a large viscosity difference between the displacing
(water, lower viscosity) and displaced (oil, higher viscosity) fluid, the mobility ratio
will become larger than one and, thus, poor recovery will be reached (Fig. 1). The
fingering effect is highly undesirable as it promotes itself more and more and sharply
reduces the production as soon as the finger reaches the production well site. In an
endeavor to decrease the mobility ratio below one, the approach of using viscous fluid
(polymer) to increase the viscosity of displacing fluid has been developed. This helps
to promote the displacing fluid in a stable, uniform manner and decrease the chance of
fingering effect thus increasing the efficiency of oil recovery
Polymer Flooding
Polymer flooding has been used for more
than 40 years to effectively recover the
remaining oil from the reservoir, up to
30% of the original oil in place. Due to
decreased water production and enhanced
oil production, the total cost of using the
polymer flooding technique is less than
that of water flooding. The polymer
flooding efficiency ranges from 0.7 to
Fig. 2: Polymer flooding. (Source: G. 1.75 lb of polymer per barrel of
Zerkalov) incremental oil production. [3] Polymers
added to water increase its viscosity and
reduce water permeability due to mechanical entrapment, thus decreasing its mobility.
The process usually starts with pumping water containing surfactants to reduce the
interfacial tension between the oil and water phases and to alter the wettability of the
reservoir rock to improve the oil recovery. Polymer is then mixed with water and
injected continuously for an extended period of time (can take several years). When
about 30% to 50% of the reservoir pore volume in the project area has been injected,
the addition of polymer stops and the drive water is pumped into the injection well to
drive the polymer slug and the oil bank in front of it toward the production wells (Fig.
2). [3]
Ideal mobility control agents will have high cost effectiveness, allow high injectivity,
will be resistant to mechanical (up to 1000 m 3 /m2-d flux when entering porous rock)
and microbial degradation, will sustain high reservoir temperatures (up to 200°C) for
extensive periods of time (5 to 10 years), will be effective when mixed with reservoir
brines, will have low retention properties in porous rock, will be effective in presence
of oil and gas, and not sensitive to acidity (pH) or various chemicals present at the
oilfield. [3]
Polymer Types
Most of the polymers used for EOR fall into two sets: synthetic polymers and
biopolymers. The most commonly used among them are synthetic (PAM) and
partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (HPAM), the biological polysaccharide,
Xanthan, and some modified natural polymers, including HEC (hydroxyl ethyl
cellulose), guar gum and sodium carboxymethyl cellulose,
carboxyethoxyhydroxyethylcellulose. [5] Every polymer has its own advantages and
disadvantages for a specific reservoir.
• PAM (Polyacrylamide) with its high molecular weight (> 1.0 × 10 6 g/mol) was
the first thickening agent used for aqueous solutions. PAM is stable up to 90°C
at normal salinity and up to 62°C at seawater salinity. Therefore, it is somewhat
restricted to on-shore operations only. [5] High salinity can dramatically reduce
the viscosity properties of this compound.
• Partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (HPAM) is one of the most popular
polymer used today. HPAM is obtained by partial hydrolysis of PAM or by
copolymerization of sodium acrylate with acrylamide. [5] HPAM's advantages
include its tolerance to high mechanical forces present during the flooding of a
reservoir, low cost, and its resistance to bacterial attack. This polymer can be
used for temperatures up to 99°C depending on brine hardness. A few of its
modifications, such as HPAMAMPS co-polymers and sulphonated
polyacrylamide can withstand 104°C and 120°C respectively. [3] The
disadvantage of HPAM lies in its high sensitivity to the brine salinity, hardness
and presence of surfactants or other chemicals. This makes it very ineffective in
reservoirs containing salts. [5]
• Xanthan gum, a polysaccharide, is produced by different bacteria (one of which
is Xanthomonas campestris) through fermentation of glucose or fructose. The
molecule generally has very high molecular weight (2 - 50 × 106 g/mol) and
very rigid polymer chains. This makes Xanthan gum relatively insensitive to
high salinity and hardness. The polymer is compatible with most surfactants
and other injection fluid additives used in tertiary oil recovery formulations.
Xanthan gum is usually produced as broth in concentrated form that can be
easily diluted to working concentrations without any complex mixing
equipment. Xanthan is thermally stable in the range from 70°C to 90°C. [5]
Nonetheless, this compound is very sensitive to bacterial degradation when
injected into the field containing low-temperature regions in the reservoir.
Furthermore, it has been reported that xanthan can have some cellular debris
that cause plugging. [3]
Choosing the Best Polymer
Due to their different properties, polymers tend to work better or worse in different
conditions. Thus, before the application, one should take into account several factors
to select the optimal polymer used. To determine the best molecular weight of the
polymer, it is necessary to consider reservoir permeability and oil viscosity. [3] It is
also important to consider the cloud point of the polymer solution, which reflects
polymer thermal stability in high salt brine and high temperature. Incorrect
measurement of this parameter can result in precipitations during injection or flow
through the reservoir. [5] Another essential parameter is the polymer retention, which
encompasses possible mechanisms responsible for the reduction of mean velocity of
polymer molecules during their flow through porous media. Retention is commonly
attributed to polymer adsorption, however, some polymers can be mechanically
entrapped in porous medium or hydrodynamically trapped in stagnant zones. [5] Thus,
it is important to know the rock composition and polymer adsorption level to
determine the best anionicity (degree of hydrolysis).
Summary
The world continues to rely heavily on oil for primary energy. As the extraction of oil
becomes more challenging, new techniques are put in place to increase the amount of
oil extracted. Polymers play major role in the Enhanced Oil Recovery; they help
extract up to 30% of the original oil in place. Polymers help increase the viscosity of
the displacing liquid (water) to drive the displaced liquid (oil) to the production well.
A variety of polymers is used in different oil fields depending on working conditions
of that field. Before the right polymer is chosen, a careful analysis should be
conducted to ensure that the polymer is effective during an extensive period of time.
© Georgy Zerkalov. The author grants permission to copy, distribute and display this
work in unaltered form, with attribution to the author, for noncommercial purposes
only. All other rights, including commercial rights, are reserved to the author.
References
[1] "BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2015," British Petroleum, June 2015.
[2] G. Glatz, "A Primer On Enhanced Oil Recovery." Physics 240, Stanford
University, Fall 2013.
[3] A. Z. Abidin, T. Puspasari, and W.A. Nugroho, "Polymers For Enhanced Oil
Recovery Technology," Procedia Chem. 4, 11 (2012).
[4] A. Salehi, "CO2 Injection For Enhanced Oil Recovery," Physics 240, Stanford
University, Fall 2013.
[5] A. A. Olajire, "Review Of ASP EOR (Alkaline Surfactant Polymer Enhanced Oil
Recovery) Technology In The Petroleum Industry: Prospects And Challenges,"
Energy 77, 963 (2014).
