Degradable cross-linked polymeric microsphere for enhanced oil recovery applications

Abstract

In this paper, a degradable cross-linked polymeric microsphere (DCPM) was prepared by inverse emulsion polymerization using acrylamide (AM), 2-methyl-2-acrylic amide propyl sulfonic acid (AMPS) and alpha methyl styrene (HM) as monomers, using polyethylene glycol(200) diacrylate (PEG-200 diacrylate) as labile crosslinkers. The optimized synthesis conditions of DCPM were also investigated. DCPM was characterized by Infrared spectroscopy, ¹H-NMR, laser particle analyzer and elemental analysis. Mechanical stability experiments showed that DCPM processed superior anti-shear properties compared with DPM without PEG-200 diacrylate. SEM and viscosity experiments demonstrated that the degradation process of DCPM might be described from initially absorbing amount of water to swell to finally degrading into linear polymer. In addition, the effects of salinity, temperature, PEG-200 diacrylate content and DCPM content on the degradation performance of DCPM dispersed in aqueous solutions were also studied. Finally, sandpacks flooding experiments showed that DCPM initially served as a conformance control agent to plug high thief zones and subsequently acted as polymer for oil displacement within the deep reservoir to enhance oil recovery.