Sugarcane bagasse for environmentally friendly super-absorbent polymer: synthesis methods and potential applications in oil industry

Abstract

Abstract Super-absorbent polymer (SAP) is able to absorb water by multiple times more than its own weight. Sugarcane bagasse (SCB) raw material has been excessively produced as a byproduct in sugar factory. The synthesis of SAP from SCB creates a balance between the utilization of industrial by-product and the resulted environmentally friendly material. In oil production water might be a troublesome, thus minimizing water production while extracting oil is essential. Besides, diversion of the flow in heterogeneous reservoir optimizes the oil production. SCB-SAP might have the potential to act as a water absorbing agent and flow diverter by taking the advantage of SAP high swelling ratio characteristic. This study provides the information of SCB-SAP synthesis methods and highlights the current application of SAP in oil industry, including the laboratory studies and field tests.