MOBILITY CONTROL POLYMERS FOR ENHANCED OIL RECOVERY

• US 20140209304A1
• Filed: 01/14/2014
• Published: 07/31/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 01/31/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ChampionX USA Inc. (ChampionX Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Ecolab USA Incorporated (Ecolab, Inc.)
• Inventors: Reed, Peter E., Wei, Mingli, Li, Xiaojin Harry, Andrews, William J.
• Granted Patent: US 10,435,496 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 166/268
• CPC Class Codes: C08F 220/06 Acrylic acid; Methacrylic acid; Metal salts or ammonium salts thereof
• CPC Class Codes: C08F 220/34 Esters containing nitrogen , e.g. N,N-dimethylaminoethyl (meth)acrylate
• CPC Class Codes: C08F 220/56 Acrylamide; Methacrylamide
• CPC Class Codes: C08F 222/102 of dialcohols, e.g. ethylene glycol di(meth)acrylate or 1,4-butanediol dimethacrylate
• CPC Class Codes: C08F 222/28 Diallyl maleate
• CPC Class Codes: C08F 222/38 Amides
• CPC Class Codes: C08F 222/385 Monomers containing two or more (meth)acrylamide groups, e.g. N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide
• CPC Class Codes: C08F 2800/10 as molar percentages
• CPC Class Codes: C08F 2810/20 leading to a crosslinking, either explicitly or inherently
• CPC Class Codes: C08F 2810/50 wherein the polymer is a copolymer and the modification is taking place only on one or more of the monomers present in minority
• CPC Class Codes: C08F 8/12 Hydrolysis
• CPC Class Codes: C08F 8/28 Condensation with aldehydes or ketones
• CPC Class Codes: C08L 33/26 Homopolymers or copolymers of acrylamide or methacrylamide
• CPC Class Codes: C09K 8/588 characterised by the use of specific polymers polymeric surfactants C09K8/584
• CPC Class Codes: E21B 43/16 Enhanced recovery methods for obtaining hydrocarbons
• CPC Class Codes: E21B 43/162 Injecting fluid from longitudinally spaced locations in injection well

Abstract

Disclosed herein are water-soluble polymers comprising hydrolyzable cross-linked monomer units, and methods for recovering hydrocarbon fluids from a subterranean formation using the water-soluble polymers.

Claims

1. A method for recovering a hydrocarbon fluid from a subterranean formation, comprising:

introducing into the formation an aqueous flooding fluid, the fluid comprising water and a water-soluble polymer having hydrolyzable cross-linked monomer units, the polymer comprising about 1 mol % to about 100 mol % acrylamide monomers, wherein, after introducing the aqueous flooding fluid into the formation, the hydrolyzable cross-linked monomer units are hydrolyzed to produce an aqueous flooding fluid after hydrolysis having a viscosity that is about the same or higher than a viscosity of the aqueous fluid prior to injection.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the hydrolyzable cross-linked monomer units are ionically cross-linked via an ionic interaction between two monomer units.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the water-soluble polymer comprises from about 1 mol % to about 25 mol % ionically cross-linked monomer units.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the water-soluble polymer comprises at least one monomer unit having the following formula (I):

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the monomer unit of formula (I) is derived from a monomer selected from the group consisting of N,N-dimethylaminoethyl acrylate methyl chloride quaternary salt, N,N-dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate methyl chloride quaternary salt, N,N-dimethylaminopropyl acrylamide methyl chloride quaternary salt, and N,N-dimethylaminopropyl methacrylamide methyl chloride quaternary salt.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the water-soluble polymer further comprises at least one anionic monomer unit derived from a monomer selected from the group consisting of an acrylic acid salt, a methacrylic acid salt, a 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropane sulfonic acid salt and a styrene sulfonic acid salt.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the hydrolyzable cross-linked monomer units are covalently cross-linked.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the covalently cross-linked monomer units have the following formula (II):

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the covalently cross-linked monomer units have the following formula (IIa):

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the covalently cross-linked monomer units have the following formula (IIb):

11. The method of claim 7, wherein the water-soluble polymer comprises about 0.1 ppm to about 20000 ppm covalently cross-linked monomer units.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the water-soluble polymer comprises about 0.1 ppm to about 100 ppm covalently cross-linked monomer units.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the aqueous flooding fluid comprises about 100 ppm to about 10000 ppm of the water-soluble polymer.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the aqueous flooding fluid further comprises a surfactant, a biocide, an antioxidant, or a combination thereof.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein prior to injection, the aqueous flooding fluid has a viscosity of about 0 cPs to about 100 cPs.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein after injection, the aqueous flooding fluid has a viscosity of about 1 cPs to about 5000 cPs.

17. The method of claim 1, further comprising displacing the hydrocarbon fluid in the formation into one or more production vessels.

18. A method for recovering a hydrocarbon fluid from a subterranean formation, comprising:

introducing into the formation an aqueous flooding fluid, the fluid comprising water and a water-soluble polymer, and having a viscosity of about 0 cPs to about 100 cPs, wherein, after introducing the aqueous flooding fluid into the formation, the viscosity of the aqueous flooding fluid increases to about 1 cPs to about 5000 cPs.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the water-soluble polymer comprises about 1 mol % to about 100 mol % acrylamide monomers.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein the water-soluble polymer comprises hydrolyzable cross-linked monomer units.

21. The method of claim 18, wherein the aqueous flooding fluid comprises about 100 ppm to about 10000 ppm of the water-soluble polymer.

22. The method of claim 18, wherein the aqueous flooding fluid further comprises a surfactant, a biocide, an antioxidant, or a combination thereof.

23. The method of claim 18, further comprising displacing the hydrocarbon fluid in the formation into one or more production vessels.

24. A water-soluble polymer comprising about 1 mol % to about 100 mol % acrylamide monomers, and further comprising about 0.1 ppm to about 20000 ppm hydrolyzable cross-linked monomer units based on the weight of the water-soluble polymer.

25. The water-soluble polymer of claim 24, wherein the covalently cross-linked monomer units have the following formula (II):

26. The water-soluble polymer of claim 24, wherein the covalently cross-linked monomer units have the following formula (IIa):

27. The water-soluble polymer of claim 24, wherein the covalently cross-linked monomer units have the following formula (IIb):

28. The water-soluble polymer of claim 24, wherein the water-soluble polymer comprises about 0.1 ppm to about 20000 ppm covalently cross-linked monomer units.

29. The water-soluble polymer of claim 24, wherein the water-soluble polymer comprises about 0.1 ppm to about 100 ppm covalently cross-linked monomer units.

30. The water-soluble polymer of claim 24, wherein the composition comprises about 100 ppm to about 10000 ppm of the water-soluble polymer.

31. The water-soluble polymer of claim 24, wherein the composition further comprises a surfactant, a biocide, an antioxidant, or a combination thereof.

32. The water-soluble polymer of claim 24, wherein the composition has a viscosity of about 0 cPs to about 100 cPs.

33. The water-soluble polymer of claim 24 wherein, following exposure to a stimulus, the composition has a viscosity of about 1 cPs to about 5000 cPs.

34. The water-soluble polymer of claim 24, wherein the stimulus is an increase in temperature.

35. The water-soluble polymer of claim 24, wherein the stimulus is an increase in pH.

36. The water-soluble polymer of claim 24, wherein the stimulus is dilution in water.