Polyacrylamide and its derivatives for oil recovery

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
© 2016 
Zun Chen 
All Rights Reserved

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PUBLICATION DISSERTATION OPTION 
This dissertation consists of the following three articles that have been submitted 
for publication, or will be submitted for publication as follows:
 
Paper I: Pages 9-111, will be submitted to Polymer Review. 
Paper II: Pages 112-137, will be submitted to Polymer. 
Paper III: Pages 138-164, was accepted by Journal of Applied Polymer Science. 
Paper IV: Pages 165-194, was submitted to Colloid and Polymer Science. 

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ABSTRACT 
Polyacrylamide is an umbrella term used to describe the homo-polymer of 
acrylamide and the copolymer of acrylamide with a small amount of other monomers. 
Owing to their superior property on increasing viscosity and gelling ability in the 
presence of crosslinkers, polyacrylamides has become the primarily selection for polymer 
flooding and gel treatment agent in enhanced oil recovery. Recent developments, 
performance, applications and limitations of polyacrylamides and its derivatives, 
including copolymers and hydrogels for enhancing oil recovery are reviewed.
A water-free suspension system was developed to synthesize PAMs and PAMs-
microgel. Products are dry particle powder and ready to disperse in water. Compared to 
traditional methods, less surfactant was consumed, and the required energy cost post-
treatments, like drying, were not necessary. Hydrophobically modified PAMs and PAM 
microgels were prepared through this method. Their structures and properties were 
characterized. The pore modeled oil recovery performance of the microgel was evaluated 
through a membrane filtration system.
A biocompatible high-strength hydrogel: polyacrylamide/poly (vinyl alcohol) 
hydrogel with interpenetrating network (IPN) was prepared by in situ free radical solution 
polymerization/crosslinking of acrylamide and N, N′-methylene-bisacrylamide, as well as 
chemically crosslinking of PVA with glutaradehyde. Flory–Rehner theory of swelling 
equilibrium including the ideal Donnan equilibria has been utilized in studying the 
swelling and mechanical strength of the IPNs. Good linear relationship between the 
loading of PVA and the effective crosslinking density/strength of the IPN hydrogels had 
been observed. 

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