Effect of polymer solution structure on displacement efficiency

In this paper, a series of experiments, including atomic force microscope （AFM）, environmental scanning electron microscope （ESEM）, and core displacement tests were conducted to investigate the effect of polymer solution structure on solution properties and oil displacement efficiency. The results show that in the HPAM solution polymer coils were formed and then aggregated into a loose structure, while the HAP2010 solution formed a strong network structure, which would significantly improve the solution viscosity and flow resistance so as to upgrade the capacity of piston-like oil displacement in highly permeable porous media. Meanwhile, the retention of the HAP2010 solution at pore throats were also enhanced, which could reduce water production during subsequent water flooding and enlarge the swept volume during polymer flooding. Therefore, enhancing the interaction among polymer molecules is an effective way to improve the displacement efficiency of polymer solutions in heavy oil reservoirs with high permeability.

Study of action mechanisms and properties of Cr^(3+) cross-linked polymer solution with high salinity

Performance characteristics of partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide （HPAM） and cross- linked polymer （CLP, Cr^3＋ as the cross linker） solutions have been investigated. A Brookfield viscometer, rheometer, dynamic light scattering system, and core flow device have been used to measure the viscosity, viscoelasticity, polymer coil dimensions, molecular configuration, flow characteristics, and profile modification. The results show that, under conditions of high salinity and low HPAM and Cr^3＋ concentrations, cross-linking mainly occurred between different chains of the same HPAM molecule in the presence of Cr^3＋, and a cross-linked polymer （CLP） system with a local network structure was formed. Compared with an HPAM solution of the same concentration, the apparent viscosity of the CLP solution increased slightly or remained almost unchanged, but its viscoelasticity （namely storage modulus, loss modulus, and first normal stress difference） increased, and the resistance coefficient and residual resistance coefficient increased significantly. This indicates that the CLP solution exhibits a strong capability to divert the sequentially injected polymer flood from high-permeability zones to low- permeability zones in a reservoir. Under the same HPAM concentration conditions, the dimensions of polymer coils in the CLP solution increased slightly compared with the dimensions of polymer coils in HPAM solution, which were smaller than the rock pores, indicating that the cross-linked polymer solution was well adapted to reservoir rocks. Core flood experiments show that at the same cost of reagent, the oil recovery by CLP injection （HPAM-1, Cr^3＋ as the cross linker） is 3.1% to 5.2% higher than that by HPAM- 2 injection.

A NOVEL INTERPRETATION OF CONCENTRATION DEPENDENCE OF VISCOSITY OF DILUTE POLYMER SOLUTION

The concentration dependence of the reduced viscosity of dilute polymer solution is interpreted in the light of a new concept of the self-association of polymer chains in dilute solution. The apparent self-association constant is defined as the molar association constant divided by the molar mass of individual polymer chain and is numerically interconvertible with the Huggins coefficient. The molar association constant is directly proportional to the effective hydrodynamic volume of the polymer chain in solution and is irrespective of the chain architecture. The effective hydrodynamic volume accounts for the non-spherical conformation of a short polymer chain in solution and is a product of a shape factor and hydrodynamic volume. The observed enhancement of Huggins coefficient for short chain and branched polymer is satisfactorily interpreted by the concept of self-association. The concept of self-association allows us to predict the existence of a boundary concentration C-s(dynamic contact concentration) which divides the dilute polymer solution into two regions.

Influence of dissolved oxygen content on oxidative stability of linked polymer solution

The influence of dissolved oxygen content on the oxidative stability of a linked polymer solution (LPS) was studied by micro-filtration, dynamic light scattering and viscosity measurements. The results showed that at the same temperature, the degree of the oxidative degradation of the LPS increased and the rapidity of the oxidative degradation was accelerated with the increase of the dissolved oxygen content. Consequently, the size of linked polymer coils (LPCs) of the LPS became small, and the plugging capability of the LPS decreased. At a fixed content of dissolved oxygen, with increasing degradation temperature, almost the same results were observed, namely, an increased degree of oxidative degradation, accelerated rapidity of the oxidative degradation and decreased plugging capacity, with decreased oxidative stability of LPS. At 90 °C, in the presence of oxygen, LPS lost its plugging capability after having been degraded for a period of time. But at 40 °C, LPS with low dissolved oxygen content could be stable for a long time. The decreased plugging ability of LPS after oxidative degradation is mainly caused by the decreased size and number of the LPCs due to the breaking of hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (HPAM) molecule segments and the structural changing of HPAM molecules.

EFFECT OF ADSORPTION ON THE VISCOSITY OF DILUTE POLYMER SOLUTION

Careful measurements of the dilute solution viscosities of polyethylene glycol and polyvinyl alcohol in water were carried out. The reduced viscosities of both polymer solutions plot upward curves at extremely dilute concentration levels similar to the phenomena observed for many polymer solutions in the early 1950's. Upon observation of the changes of the flow times of pure water in and the wall surface wettability of the viscometer after measuring solution viscosity, a view was formed that the observed viscosity abnormality at extremely dilute concentration regions is solely due to the effect of adsorption of polymer chains onto the wall surface of viscometer. A theory of adsorption effect based on the Langmuir isotherms was proposed and a mathematical; analysis for data treatment was performed. The theory could adequately describe the existing viscosity data. It seems necessary to correct the viscosity result of dilute polymer solutions measured by glass capillary viscometer by taking into account the effect of adsorption in all cases.

Well test analysis on pressure of viscoelastic polymer solution with variable rheological parameters

According to the behavior that the polymer solution has both the characteristics of viscosity and elastic properties, the transient flow mathe- matical model considered the viscoelasticity of the polymer solution has been established. The model, in which the variation of the rheological parameters during the seepage flow has been also taken into consideration, has been solved using finite-difference method. The type curves have been plotted. The influence of some properties of polymer solution including the viscocity, the elastic properties and the rheological parameters has been analyzed. Compared with the curves of the power-law fluid, it is shown that the pressure derivative curve considering the elasticity of the polymer solution upwarps less at the radial flow regime. Besides, it will come down as the variation of the rheological parameters, which is quite different from the case regarding them as constants. Therefore, in well test analysis on pressure of polymer solution, it’s necessary to consider the elasticity and the variation of the rheological parameters.

Rheological Behavior for Polymer Melts and Concentrated Solutions——Part Ⅶ: A Quantitative Verification for the Molecular Theory of Non-linear Viscoelasticity with Entanglement Constraints in Polymer Melts

Based on the molecular theory of non-linear viscoelasticity with constrained entanglements in polymer melts, the material functions in simple shear flow were formulated, the theoretical relations between and shear rate (), and topologically constrained dimension number and a were derived. Linear viscoelastic parameters and and topologically constrained dimension number and as a function of the primary molecular weight, molecular weight between entanglements and the entanglement sites sequence distribution in polymer chain were determined. A new method for determination of viscoelastic parameters G and topologically constrained dimension number a and and molecular weight and from the shear flow measurements was proposed. It was used to determine those parameters and structures of HDPE, making a good agreement between these values and those obtained by other methods. The agreement affords a quantitative verification for the molecular theory of nonlinear viscoelasticity with constrained entanglement in polymer melts.

Rheological Behaviour for Polymer Melts and Concentrated Solutions Part Ⅰ:A New Multiple Reptation Model to Predict the Nonlinear Visco-elasticity with Nagai Chain Constraints in Entangled Polymer Melts

An approach of stochastically statistical mechanics and a unified molecular theory of nonlinear viscoelasticity with constraints of Nagai chain entanglement for polymer melts have been proposed. A multimode model structure for a single polymer chain with n tail segments and N reversible entanglement sites on the test polymer chain is developed. Based on the above model structure and the mechanism of molecular flow by the dynamical reorganization of entanglement sites, the probability distribution function of the end-to-end vectr for a single polymer chain at entangled state and the viscoelastic free energy of deformation for polymer melts are calculated by using the method of the stochastically statistical mechanics. The four types of stress-strain relation and the memory function are derived from this thery. The above theoretical relations are verified by the experimentaf data for various polymer melts. These relations are found to be in good agreement with the experimental results

Rheological Behaviour for Polymer Melts and Concentrated Solutions Part Ⅲ: A New Multiple Entanglement Model to Predict the Dependence of Linear Viscoelastic Function (η_0, Ψ_(10)~0,η_(ext)~0) on the Ranges of Primary Molecular Weights and th

It is shown theoretically that the viscoelasticity of polymer melts is determined by three combining factorst they are the primary molecular weight and its distribution, the number of entanglement sites on polymer chain and the sequence distribution of constituent chains in entanglement spacings. A unified quantity for the three combing factors is the average constrained dimensional number of constituent chains in the long entanglement spacings (v). A new relation of v to the primary molecular weight and the number of testing polymers were derived from the multiple entanglement and reptation model, and a new method for determining v was proposed. The dependences of linear viscoelastic functions on the primary molecular weight and its distribution were derived by the statistical method. When Mn=6Me to 18 Me, the values of (v) can range from 3.33 to 3.70. Their values are in a good agreement with the experiment data, and it can slightjy vary with the different species of polymers and the different ranges of molecular weight of polymers

VAPOR-LIQUID EQUILIBRIA OF POLYMER SOLUTION USING UNIQUAC

The UNIQUAC excess Gibbs energy model of Abrams and Prausnitz(1975)is extended to represent thevapor-liquid equilibria of polymer solution with only two adjustable parameters.Discussions on the application ofthe Staverman-Guggenheim and the Flory-Huggins combinatorial contribution in the UNIQUAC model are givenin this paper.The UNIQUAC model with either Staverman-Guggenheim or Flory-Huggins combinatorial expres-sion presents results with about the same accuracy for polymer solutions.Comparisons between the UNIQUAC model and the Flory equation show that theUNIQUAC model can give some better results than the Flory equa-tion in general.

ASSOCIATION OF ETHYLENE VINYL ACETATE COPOLYMER IN DILUTE SOLUTIONS IV. SOLVENT MIXTURE AND ADDITIVE EFFECT ON C_A

Critical association concentration (Ca) of ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) in selective solvent mixtures of 1,2-dichloroethane (DCE) (polar solvent) and cyclohexane (CYH) (non-polar solvent) was investigated. DCE is a good solvent for polyvinyl acetate (PVAc) and a poor solvent for paraffin, whereas CYH is a good solvent for the paraffin and a precipitant for PVAc. Viscosities of EVA in different compositions of the solvent mixture with and without additives were measured. Viscosity results were used to determine the C-A value of the systems. It is shown that C-A was markedly dependent on the composition of the solvent mixture and concentration and structure of the additive. Solvation and competition between hydrogen bonding and micellisation were suggested for qualitative description of the changing of C-A value observed.

CONTINUOUS THERMODYNAMICS FOR POLYMER SOLUTIONS Ⅱ.LATTICE-FLUID MODEL

Using lattice-fluid model,a continuous thermodynamic framework is presented forphase-equilibrium calculations for binary solutions with a polydisperse polymer solute.A two-stepprocess is deslgned to form a real polymer solution containing a solvent and a polydisperse polymersolute occupying a volume at fixed temperature and pressure.In the first step,close-packed purecomponents including solvent and polymers with different molar masses or different chain lengths aremixed to form a closed-packed polymer solution.In the second step,the close-packed mixture,con-sidered to be a pseudo-pure substance is mixed with holes to form a real polymer solution with a vol-ume dependent on temperature and pressure.Revised Freed’s model developed previously is adoptedfor both steps.Besides pure-component parameters,a binary size parameter cr and a binary energyparameter ε12 are used.They are all temperature dependent.The discrete-multicomponent approach isadopted to derive expressions for chemical potentials。

CONTINUOUS THERMODYNAMICS FOR POLYMER SOLUTIONS I.CLOSE-PACKED LATTICE MODEL

using close-packed lattice models,a continuous thermodynamic framework is presented forphase-equilibrium calculations for binary solutions with a polydisperse polymer solute.An expressionfor the Helmholtz function of mixing is based on the revised Freed model developed previously.Asize parameter c_r and an energy parameter ε are used;the former can be temperature dependent,while the latter can depend on both temperature and chain-length of the polymer.The discretemulticomponent approach is adopted to derive expressions for chemical potentials,spinodals and criti-cal points.The continuous distribution function is then used in calculations of moments occurring inthose expressions.Computation programs are established for cloud-point-curve,shadow-curve,spinodal and critical-point calculations for polymer solutions with standard distribution or arbitrarydistribution of polymer.In the latter case,the derivative method developed previously is applied.lllustrations for phase-equilibrium calculations are

PREPARATION OF Co50Ni50 ULTRAFINES BY CO-REDUCTION OF SOLUTION IN PRESENCE OF POLYMER

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COMPUTER SIMULATION OF POLYMER SOLUTION THERMODYNAMICS

The statistical counting method for the computer simulation of the thermodynamic quantities of polymer solution has been reviewed. The calculating results for a single athermal chain confirm the theory of the renormalization group. The results for the athermal solution are consistent with the scaling law of the osmotic pressure with the exponent 2.25. The results for a single chain with the segmental interaction are in a good agreement with the exact results obtained by the direct counting method. The results for the polymer solution show us that the Flory-Huggins parameter is strongly dependent on both the polymer concentration and the interaction energy between segments. (Author abstract) 15 Refs.

Nanofabrication in Polymer Solutions

This review covers recent advances in fabrication of nanomaterials in polymer solutions with emphasis on using the self assembled amphiphilic block copolymers in solution to fabricate organic/inorganic composites with nanoscale modifications. The phase behavior of block copolymers in water and the use of templates to form ordered nanostructures are reviewed in detail. Modern physical techniques for nanoscale characterization are also introduced. The authors suggested that this approach should provide new routes to create materials with interesting morphologies for many different applications.

Theoretical analysis of microscopic oil displacement mechanism by viscoelastic polymer solution

The microscopic oil displacement mechanism in viscoelastic polymer flooding is theoretically analyzed with mechanical method.The effects of viscoelasticity of polymer solution on such three kinds of residual oil as in pore throat,in sudden expansion pore path,and in dead end are analyzed.Results show that the critical radius of mobile residual oil for viscoelastic polymer solution is larger than that for viscous polymer solution,which makes the oil that is immobile in viscous polymer flooding displaced under the condition of viscoelastic polymer solution.The viscous polymer solution hardly displaces the oil in dead ends.However,when the effect of viscoelasticity is considered,the residual oil in sudden expansion pore paths and dead ends can be partly displaced. A dimensionless parameter is suggested to denote the relative dominance of gravity and capillary pressure.The larger the dimensionless parameter,the more accurate the increment expressions.

PREDICTION OF THE RHEOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF STAR—TYPE BRANCHED POLYMER SOLUTIONS BY MEANS OF THE FIXED SPECTRUM MODEL

The Rouse-Zimm model with slippage was improved and the basic parameters of modelwere modified to explain the rheological properties of star-type branched polymersolutions. The theoretical results show good agreement with experimental data.

A Modified Mixing Rule for PSRK Model and Application for the Prediction of Vapor-Liquid Equilibria of Polymer Solutions

To extend the PSRK (predictive Soave-Redlich-Kwong equation of state) model to vapor-liquid equilibria of polymer solutions, a new EOS-gE mixing rule is applied in which the term ∑xiln(b/bi) in the PSRK mixing rule for the parameter a, and the combinatorial part in the original universal functional activity coefficient (UNIFAC) model are cancelled. To take into account the free volume contribution to the excess Gibbs energy in polymer solution, a quadratic mixing rule for the cross co-volume bij with an exponent equals to 1/2 is applied [bij^1/2=1/2(bi1/2+bj1/2)]. The literature reported Soave-Redlich-Kwong equation of state (SRK EOS) parameters of i3 - 2- pure polymer are employed. The PSRK model with the modified mixing rule is used to predict the vapor-liquid equilibrium (VLE) of 37 solvent-polymer systems over a large range of temperature and pressure with satisfactory results.

Modified van Laar's Equation and Its Application to VLE of Polymer Solutions

The original van Laar's theory has been modified. The internal pressures of components and mixture are expressed by Prank's relation and the excess entropy for mixing of components is also considered. A new activity coefficient equation, which can be satisfactorily applied to polymer solutions, is obtained. The calculated results for the VLE of 179 polymer solutions show that the accuracy of fit is evidently superior to UNIQUAC equation.