Eventos Anais de eventos
ENCIT 2022
19th Brazilian Congress of Thermal Sciences and Engineering
Effects of SiO2 nanoparticles on the shear and extensional rheology of mechanically degraded partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide solutions
Submission Author:
Andrea Mora , RJ , Brazil
Co-Authors:
Andrea Mora, Jorge Antonio Avendaño Benavides, Anthony Hutin, Marcio CARVALHO
Presenter: Andrea Mora
doi://10.26678/ABCM.ENCIT2022.CIT22-0295
Abstract
Partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (HPAM) is the most commonly used synthetic polymer in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) activities. However, polymer molecules break down as they flow through porous media, which reduces the average molecular weight and consequently, the viscosity of the solution and its effectiveness in displacing a high-viscosity oil phase. It has been demonstrated that incorporating silicon dioxide (SiO2) nanoparticles into HPAM solutions can inhibit the degradation of polymer solutions and protect the molecule backbone to prevent the breakdown of the polymer molecule during polymer flooding. This research evaluated the effect on the rheological properties of coupling various concentrations of SiO2 nanoparticles into HPAM polymer solutions of different molecular weights. The polymer solution degradation was caused by the flow through a valve at varying constriction and flow rate. Using rotational rheometry, we evaluated the changes in shear viscosity of the native and degraded solutions. In addition, we determined the viscoelastic properties using a capillary elongational breakdown rheometer (CaBER). The results showed that, at the concentrations used, the addition of nanoparticles had a negligible effect on native solutions' extensional and shear viscosity but increased the values of extensional viscosity as a function of Hencky strain on the degraded solutions, which is an indication of reduced polymer mechanical degradation.
Keywords
Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR), nanoparticles, Polymers, Mechanical degradation, Capillary breakup elongational rheometry (CaBER), viscoelasticity
