Investigation of the destruction of polymers used in EOR measures

01.08.2011 - 15.09.2011
Auftragsforschungsprojekt
A common method of Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) is polymer flooding. Hereby, produced water from oil production is mixed with polymers to increase its viscosity and is reinjected into the reservoir, so as to improve oil yield. The polymer used (polyacrylamide) must on the one hand comply with certain stability criteria (temperature, pH, etc.). On the other hand, it is this desired stability that brings problems at the end of the process, that is in the treatment of produced water for reinjection. In order to not negatively affect water treatment, the polymer should be removed from the produced water as completely as possible. It is the aim of this project to develop a suitable physical or chemical degradation process which also can be implemented with reasonable financial and technical effort. The success of the degradation process is monitored on the base of polymer size. This not only allows the characterization of the molecular weight distribution of the polymer, but also provides the opportunity to closely follow and refine the degradation process. The destruction processes considered here are oxidations under various experimental conditions, either used on their own or in combination with precipitation reactions (by addition of metal ions) are these will be investigated and optimized.

Personen

Projektleiter_in

Projektmitarbeiter_innen

Institut

Contract/collaboration

  • OMV Exploration & Produktion GmbH,

Forschungsschwerpunkte

  • Efficient Utilisation of Material Resources: 100%

Schlagwörter

DeutschEnglisch
ÖlförderungOil production
Erhöhte ÖlausbeuteEnhanced Oil Recovery
ProduktionswasserProduced water
PolymerflutenPolymer flooding
GrößenausschlusschromatographieSize exclusion chromatography

Publikationen