Craig W. Van Kirk

Detection of a New Effect as a Result of Polymer Behavior in Alkaline Media

An unexpected Residual Oil Saturation (ROS) ring was observed after the application of the Polymer Augmented Alkaline Flooding (PAAF) process in linear and radial Berea sandstone cores. No information about the previous observations of this effect has been found in the literature. Such an effect was not observed in cores flooded with either alkaline solution or polymer solution alone. Thus, the formation of the ROS ring was attributed to the interaction between the alkaline/polymer blend solution and chasing fresh polymer solution at their transitional interface.