A Natural Polymer-Based Cross-Linker System for Conformance Gel Systems

摘要

This paper describes a material derived from natural sources that can be used to crosslink a variety of acrylamide-based polymers over a broad temperature range to produce gels for confor-mance applications. Delayed crosslinked polymer systems have been used for many years in conformance applications. For the past decade, the most widely used system has been based on chromium (3+) crosslinked polyacrylamide. Organic crosslinkers, such as phenol/formaldehyde and polyethyleneimine (PEI) have also been used with a variety of polymers. However, these systems are being scrutinized by governmental agencies and have been scheduled for phaseout in some countries. Because of these issues, a single, environmentally friendly crosslinker that could be used with a variety of polymers over a broad temperature range was the focus of this study. This paper details the laboratory development of an environmentally friendly, natural polyamine crosslinker system. This crosslinker can be used with a variety of polymers, such as polyacrylamide, AMPS/acrylamide, or alkylacrylate polymers. Gels ranging from stiff and "ringing" type to "lipping" gels have been obtained. The data illustrate a simple, commercially available system that can be applied to field operations. Potential crosslinking mechanism(s) of the system will be discussed.