Vol. 36 No. 3 (2023): Revista ION
Articles

Effect of dopants addition on the displacing phase properties in a polymer flooding process using computed tomography scanning

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  • Maria Sandoval Martinez,
  • Luis Miguel Salas Chia,
  • Guillermo Andrés Ibarra Gómez,
  • Elízabeth Pilar Pineda Cifuentes,
  • Astrid Xiomara Rodríguez Castelblanco,
  • Juan Camilo Díaz Mateus
Maria Sandoval Martinez
Universidad Industrial de Santander
Luis Miguel Salas Chia
Universidad Industrial de Santander
Guillermo Andrés Ibarra Gómez
Universidad Industrial de Santander
Elízabeth Pilar Pineda Cifuentes
Universidad Industrial de Santander
Astrid Xiomara Rodríguez Castelblanco
Universidad Industrial de Santander
Juan Camilo Díaz Mateus
Universidad Industrial de Santander
DOI: https://doi.org/10.18273/revion.v36n3-2023003

Published 2023-11-30

Keywords

  • Polymer flooding,
  • Oil recovery,
  • Viscosity,
  • Dopant agents,
  • Computer tomography scan

How to Cite

Martinez, M. S., Salas Chia, L. M. ., Ibarra Gómez, G. A. ., Pineda Cifuentes, E. P. ., Rodríguez Castelblanco, A. X. ., & Díaz Mateus, J. C. . (2023). Effect of dopants addition on the displacing phase properties in a polymer flooding process using computed tomography scanning. Revista ION, 36(3), 33–42. https://doi.org/10.18273/revion.v36n3-2023003

Copyright (c) 2023 Maria Sandoval Martinez, Luis Miguel Salas Chia, Guillermo Andrés Ibarra Gómez, Elízabeth Pilar Pineda Cifuentes, Astrid Xiomara Rodríguez Castelblanco, Juan Camilo Díaz Mateus

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Abstract

This study evaluated the impact of the four most used dopants in core-flooding tests, supported by computed tomography, on the behavior of polymer viscosity. Initially, the minimum concentration of each dopant required to achieve an adequate contrast between phases was estimated by varying the amount of dopant in solution and comparing the CT number of polymer solution and oil to guarantee a differential highest than 300 CT. Afterward, the effect of adding the different dopants on the polymer solution viscosity was determined through Brookfield viscosimeter. Subsequently, the polymer concentration to counteract the viscosity reduction was quantified by adding different polymer amounts. The results showed that sodium iodide achieved the highest attenuating effect between phases with the lowest dopant concentration. Moreover, this dopant caused the lowest polymer viscosity diminution and required the smallest increase in polymer concentration to reach the base case viscosity, making this dopant the most suitable agent to be used in polymer injection experiments at the conditions evaluated. Finally, the impact of crude oil density on the lowest amount of dopant required to achieve sufficient differentiation between phases was analyzed, and as a result, a correlation was found that could be used in future experiments at similar conditions to evaluate polymer flooding in a porous medium by means computed tomography scan as a visual and non-intrusive technique, reaching the best contrast between crude oil and HPAM.

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