Degradable preformed particle gel as temporary plugging agent for low-temperature unconventional petroleum reservoirs:Effect of molecular weight of the cross-linking agent

The development of unconventional petroleum resources has gradually become an important succession for increasing oil production.However,the related engineers and researchers are paying more and more attention to the application of temporary plugging agents(TPAs)for their efficient development.TPAs can expand the stimulated reservoir volume(SRV)and facilitate the flow of oil and gas to the bottom of the well.Particle-gels used as temporary plugging agents have the characteristics of the simple injection process,good deformation,high plugging strength,and complete self-degradation performance,which have been widely applied in recent years.In this paper,five samples of DPPG polymerized by different molecular weights of cross-linking agents were prepared.In addition,infrared spectroscopy analysis,differential calorimetry scanning(DSC)analysis,static particle gel swelling and degradation performance evaluation experiments,and dynamic temporary plugging performance experiments in cores were conducted at 34°C.Results show that as the molecular weight of the cross-linking agent(at 0.01 g)in the DPPG molecule decreased from 1,000 to 200 Da,the fewer cross-linking sites of DPPG,the looser the microscopic three-dimensional mesh structure formed.The swelling ratio increased from 7 to 33 times.However,the complete degradation time increased from 40 to 210 min.Moreover,the DSC results confirmed that the higher the molecular weight of the cross-linking agent,the worse is chemical stability and the more prone it to self-degradation.DPPG samples had good temporary plugging performance in reservoir cores.DPPGs prepared by the cross-linking agent with smaller molecular weight has a stronger swelling ratio,higher gel strength,and greater plugging strength in the core permeabilities.Moreover,the degraded DPPG is less damaging to the cores.However,their slower degradation rates take a slightly longer times to reach complete degradation.The results of this paper can provide new ideas and a theoretical basis for the development of particle gel-type temporary plugging agents(TPA)with controllable degradation time in low-temperature reservoirs.It can help to expand the application range of existing DPPG reservoir conditions.

Migration characteristics and profile control capabilities of preformed particle gel in porous media

Inspired by the viscoelastic displacement theory,a product called preformed particle gel(PPG)is developed as conformance control agent to enhance oil recovery and control excess water production.The migration law of PPG suspension in porous media is related to its deep profile control and displacement capability.Laboratory experiments indicate that PPG suspension has good viscosity increasing,and the apparent viscosity decreases with the increase of shear rate.PPG suspension is mainly elastic,and its network structure makes it have certain shear stability.PPG particles realize migration in porous media in the way of“accumulation and blockage/pressure increase/deformation and migration”.When the ratio of the PPG particle size to the pore throat diameter d ranges from 35.52 to 53.38,the particles can match through the porous medium.When the permeability difference of the parallel model is 5,PPG suspension has the highest profile improvement rate,69.10%.PPG suspension can adjust the planar heterogeneity,and increase the oil recovery rate by 20.75%.The PPG suspension can effectively start“cluster"、“film”and“blind end residual oil”,and has a high oil washing efficiency.The core NMR T2 spectrum shows that PPG suspension mainly reduces oil saturation in mesopores and macropores.After PPG flooding,the EOR capacity of small pores is the highest,39.11%.