John S. Rhudy

Partially Hydrolyzed Polyacrylamides with Superior Flooding and Injection Properties

A versatile process for the manufacture of PHPA has been developed. The applicability of this process for the production of PHPA in the field has been demonstrated. Based on performance in radial disk floods, Marathon PHPAs exhibit ideal mobility behavior. The superior performance of the Marathon polymers is attained without near wellbore plugging. An ultracentrifugation technique was developed to obtain both average molecular weights and molecular weight distributions for PHPA. The performance and solution properties of Marathons PHPAs correlate well with their average molecular weights. Indirect evidence indicates that microgel may be responsible for the near wellbore plugging observed with the commercial products evaluated. Polymer augmented waterflooding is most beneficial in heterogeneous formations.