Effect of Surfactant and Hydrophobe Content on the Rheology of Poly(acrylamide-co-N-dodecylacrylamide) for Potential Enhanced Oil Recovery Application

Afolabi, Richard Oyekunle (2015) Effect of Surfactant and Hydrophobe Content on the Rheology of Poly(acrylamide-co-N-dodecylacrylamide) for Potential Enhanced Oil Recovery Application. American Journal of Polymer Science, 5 (2). pp. 41-46. ISSN 2163-1352

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Abstract

Associating polyacrylamide polymers have found profound use in the oil industry for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) due to their improved rheological properties compared with ordinary non-associating polymers. Polymer rheology is important as it controls the mobility ratio of the displacing fluid to the displaced fluid and this can be severely affected by the high temperature and salinity present in most oil reservoirs resulting in loss of viscosity and viscous fingering of the displaced fluid. With associating polyacrylamide polymers, the presence of hydrophobic blocks on the polymer backbone allows for stronger intermolecular interaction between the polymer chains thereby improving its rheological behavior under harsh conditions obtainable in most oil reservoirs. In this project, polyacrylamide containing N-dodecylacrylamide was synthesized via micellar copolymerization in order to investigate the effect of hydrophobe variation and surfactant variation on the rheology of the prepared copolymers. Rheological measurements were carried out with the use of a Bohlin Rheometer. Improved viscous characteristics were observed with increasing hydrophobe content especially when polymer concentration exceeds the Critical Aggregation Concentration (CAC). This is due to larger hydrophobic blocks on the polymer backbone. Improved polymer viscosity was also observed when surfactant was added below its Critical Micelle Concentration (CMC.) This is as a result of the creation of mixed micelles of surfactant and hydrophobic blocks. This allows for an optimum polymer and surfactant concentration to be determined for poly (acrylamide-co-N-dodecylacrylamide) for potential application in Alkaline Surfactant Polymer (ASP) flooding involved in Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) projects.

Item Type:	Article
Subjects:	Q Science > QD Chemistry T Technology > TP Chemical technology
Divisions:	UNSPECIFIED
Depositing User:	Mr Richard Oyekunle Afolabi
Date Deposited:	13 Aug 2015 07:52
Last Modified:	13 Aug 2015 07:52
URI:	http://eprints.covenantuniversity.edu.ng/id/eprint/5398

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