The Evaluation of a Technological Trend in Polymer Flooding for Heavy Oil Recovery

This work evaluated an emerging technological trend in polymer flooding for heavy oil recovery in the near future (i.e., the injection of polymer solution with higher viscosity concentration] and larger slug size). The rheological properties and flow behavior in porous media of two typical enhanced oil recovery (EOR) polymers (a partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide and a xanthan gum) and a novel hydrophobic polymer were first investigated to identify their potential functionality in displacing heavy oil. Tertiary oil recovery was then conducted by polymer flooding using a heavy oil of 1000 mPa·s. The results indicate that polymer flooding with higher viscosity and larger slug size can significantly improve oil recovery and produced water/oil ratio, which proves the technical and economic feasibility of this trend in oil fields. Xanthan gum exhibits an outstanding flow behavior and EOR performance in sandpack displacement tests compared to other polymers, making it a promising candidate for this trend.