Successful Development, Scale-Up and Field Deployment of High Activity Liquid Polymers

Abstract

Abstract In this work, we present the development and deployment of high activity liquid polymer that improves logistics for field deployment in supply chain constrained locations. Such polymers show superior performance in terms of dissolution times, increased neat polymer stability, and improved injectivity during tertiary oil displacement in comparison to traditional emulsion polymers. The initial screening process comprised of testing for viscosity yields in the desired brine, filterability, and long term injectivity corefloods in surrogate rocks. Additional tests included long term aging studies with contaminants to measure shelf life of the neat polymer. Finally, yard scale tests were conducted to identify mixing configuration and system pressures for optimal mixing conditions to scale up for field deployment. The liquid polymer developed for this application shows superior performance with rapid viscosity yields both in lab scale and yard scale mixing tests. Long term injection shows good injectivity (stable pressure for greater than 25 PV injected). Aging tests demonstrated the improved shelf life and higher stability of the neat material in the presence of iron. Application of mechanical shear and imposing temperature vaiations to the neat polymer did not affect the quality of the diluted polymer solution. QA/QC of field supplied batches indicate consistent quality of commercial scale polymer production thus demonstrating the applicability of liquid polymer for piloting at the field scale. The developed liquid polymers improve upon the limitation of traditional emulsion polymers with higher activity, better injectivity, faster dissolution times and better neat polymer stability. These features combined lead to enhanced product performance thus further de-risking polymer flooding in logistically challenging environments.