The Comparison of Three Metallic, Organic, and Polymeric Crosslinked HPAM Gels for Water Conformance Applications

Unwanted production of water in oil and gas reservoirs due to water coning is one of the headaches of the petroleum industry. Despite mechanical methods, some chemicals are also developed to delay or prevent this problem. Polymer gels have been proved to be a reliable and economical solution for water production. In this paper, we present a summary of tests for three different gel systems for a pre-determined reservoir condition. A metallic crosslinker (Chromium(III) Acetate), a polymeric crosslinker (Polyethylenimine), and an organic crosslinker mixture (Hexamethyleneteramine + Hydroquinone) are used for crosslinking HPAM polymer. The tests are performed for different concentrations of polymer and cross-linker. Gel strength and stability of these polymer gels are recorded over six weeks. The apparent viscosity of these gels is recoded and compared. The impact of salinity on gel strength and stability is also investigated. The results show that for the determined reservoir conditions HPAM-Chromium(III) Acetate and HPAM-Hexamethyleneteramine-Hydroquinone gels could form a stable and rigid barrier against water.