Transient transport of polymer solution flow in porous media

Abstract

Kazakhstan takes 12th place in World oil production, however 52,7 % of produced oil comes from “mature” fields that are on the last production stages. Therefore, use of enhanced oil recovery methods becomes essential; one of these methods is polymer flooding, which involves injecting a polymer solution into the reservoir in order to displace trapped oil towards the wellbore. For successful injection of polymer solutions in a reservoir it is essential to study properly their behavior in porous media. This master thesis focuses on that topic, by describing and understanding two main factors that have a great impact on polymer transport, namely (i) the inaccessible pore volume (IPV) and (ii) polymer retention due to its adsorption on grain surfaces within the porous medium. In order to reach this goal experiments on core samples (plugs) were conducted, and effluent concentration profiles were obtained. Moreover, numerical modelling was implemented to characterize diffusion/adsorption of polymer molecules inside the porous core.