Preparation of cationic polyacrylamide microsphere emulsion and its performance for permeability reduction

In this paper, cationic polyacrylamide microspheres （CPAM） were synthesized using acrylamide （AM） and methacryloyloxyethyl trimethyl ammonium chloride （TMAEMC） as monomers, ammonium sulfate as dispersant, poly（acryloyloxyethyl trimethyl ammonium chloride） （PAETAC） as dispersion stabilizer, and ammonium persulfate as initiator. The synthetic method was dispersion polymerization. The effects of monomer ratio （AM/TMAEMC）, dispersant concentration, and dispersion stabilizer dosage on dispersion polymerization were systematically studied to determine the optimal preparation conditions. The structure and viscosity of the synthesized polymer were characterized by FTIR and capillary viscometry, respectively, and the particle sizes and distribution of the polymer microspheres were characterized by microscopy and dynamic light scattering, respectively. Finally, flow tests were conducted to measure the permeability reduction performance of the microspheres at various concentrations in sand packs with different permeability. Results show that CPAM emulsion of a solids content of 1 wt% has excellent performance in low-to-medium permeability formations （〈 1,000 mD）, and the efficiency may reach above 90%.

Improved Geotechnical Behavior of an Expansive Soil Amended with Cationic Polyacrylamide

The characteristics of soil treated with cationic polyacrylamide(CPAM)mass content of 0%,0.2%,0.4%,0.6%,0.8%,and 1%were investigated through a series of laboratory tests to explore the practical engineering effect of an expansive soil amended with environmental protection material CPAM.The results indicate that with the increasing CPAM content,the liquid limit and plasticity index of soil decrease,the plastic limit increases,and the free swelling ratio and loaded swelling ratio decrease.Besides,the improved soil has less disintegrating property and better water stability.The shear strength increases as the content increases,and the optimal content is 0.6%.Meanwhile,the cohesion of the soil first increases and then decreases,and the internal friction angle increases.Additionally,the unconfined compressive strength first increases and then decreases.The improved soil presents the characteristics of brittle failure and reaches the peak value(410.1 kPa)at the content of 0.8%after curing for 14 days.Scanning electron microscope(SEM)exhibits that the number of curved and wrinkled sections of the expansive soil is reduced after CPAM improvement.Simultaneously,the arrangement of the superimposed polymer changes from face-face to side-angle or side-face-angle,and the reticular structure formed improves the strength and spatial stability of the soil.Therefore,adding appropriate cationic polyacrylamide could improve expansive soil in engineering.

Pretreatment of Diosgenin Wastewater Using Polyferric Sulfate and Cationic Polyacrylamide

Coagulation-flocculation process was applied in the pretreatment of diosgenin wastewater.Polyferric sulfate was used as primary coagulant and a cationic polyacrylamide （CPAM） was used as coagulant aid.Using jar test procedure,the influence of the main operating parameters,such as effluent pH and coagulant dosage in the coagulation performance was investigated.The effective pH was found to be in the range of 6.5-8.0 and coagulant dosage was 100 mg/L.Under the optimal conditions,15% chemical oxygen demand （COD） removal efficiency was achieved and the residual turbidity was less than 20 NTU.The presence of CPAM substantially promoted the reduction of residual turbidity with the appropriate CPAM dosage in the range of 2-5 mg/L.

Quantitative characterization of polyacrylamide–shale interaction under various saline conditions

Interaction of polymer-containing injected fluids with shale is a widely studied phenomenon, but much is still unknown about the interaction of charged polyacrylamides such as anionic and cationic polyacrylamides with shale. The nature of interaction of charged polyacrylamides with shale is not well understood, especially from the perspective of assessing the potential for polyacrylamides to cause formation damage. Zeta potential and rheological measurements were made for Chattanooga and Pride Mountain shales suspended in polyacrylamide solutions with and without inorganic salts and tetramethyl ammonium chloride（TMAC）. The change in zeta potential and viscosity with time was recorded. The magnitude of decrease in the absolute value of zeta potential with time is indicative of adsorption of polymer on the surface of shale and serves as a measure of the extent of polymer interaction with shale. The salts that were used in this study are potassium chloride（KCl）, sodium chloride（Na Cl）. This study quantified the interaction of anionic and cationic polyacrylamide with different North American shales.From the experimental results, it was determined that the polyacrylamides can interact strongly with shale, particularly the cationic polyacrylamide. The objective of this study was to determine the extent of interaction of anionic and cationic polyacrylamide with each shale sample in the presence of additives such as salts.