RHEOLOGICAL AND THERMAL EVALUATION OF POLYACRYLAMIDE HYDROGEL PROPERTIES WITH ALUMINUM OR ZINC OXIDE

The increase in demand for oil-based energy and the difficulty in discovering new oil reserves mean that mature reservoirs need to be optimized. These reservoirs have already been widely explored and often have fractures or zones with high permeability contrasts. In these scenarios, the injected recovery fluids tend to flow preferentially, resulting in lower sweeping efficiency and lower oil production. To avoid these problems, conformance control techniques have been used to optimize reservoir sweep. This process works redirecting the injected fluids to the lower permeability segments, which increase the sweep efficiency. Polymeric hydrogels can work by blocking high permeability zones, and these systems consist of hydrophilic polymers, where polyacrylamide derivatives are the most common. To enhance the applicability in drastic reservoir conditions, gels nanocomposites can be produced with novel properties. This work approached the research for the best composition of the polyacrylamide derivative crosslinked with polyethyleneimine and evaluated the addition of zinc or aluminum oxide nanofillers. The study evaluated different oxides contents in terms of mechanical, thermal properties and morphology. The results showed that increasing the ZnO filler provided higher elastic modulus and thermal degradation resistance. These observations correlated with the microscopies, which showed better zinc oxide interaction with polymer matrix.