American Petroleum Institute

Recommended Practices for Evaluation of Polymers Used in Enhanced Oil Recovery Operations - First Edition
 N RP 63

Annotation

SCOPE

1.1 INTRODUCTION

1.1.1 Water soluble polymers designed for use as mobility control agents in enhanced oil recovery operations and currently available in commercial quantities are mainly of two major types: hydrolyzed polyacrylamides and polysaccharides. Polyacrylamides are synthetic, high molecular weight copolymers and are marketed in a variety of product forms: dry powder, liquid emulsion or dispersion, concentrated solutions, and gels. Polysaccharides produced by fermentation processes (e.g., xanthan and scleroglucan biopolymers) are available as dry powder and liquid broths containing up to 15% active polymer.

1.1.2 These recommended practices have been prepared to provide industry standard procedures and test conditions which can be used to evaluate and compare polymer performance under the stated conditions. These recommended tests are primarily for qualitative comparison of performance and general screening of water soluble polymers under conditions described herein. This publication does not present recommendations which can be taken as absolute tests for determining polymer performance under conditions which are chracteristic of the downhole environment. These recommended practices are not intended to obviate the need for applying sound engineering judgment in the selection and application of polymer products for use in enhanced oil recovery operations.

1.1.3 For purposes of these recommended practices, standard brine solutions are stipulated to enable users to evaluate performance of polymers under controlled laboratory conditions. Similar tests may be developed using field brine solutions, but these test results should not be compared with results of tests conducted using the standard brine solutions. These recommended practices are not intended to inhibit users from applying other test procedures or practices to their needs.