The Thermal Stability of Polyacrylamides in EOR Applications

Abstract The prediction of polymer degradation under reservoir conditions is critical to EOR polymer selection. NMR studies were used to monitor the changes in the anionic content of acrylamide containing polymers. The monomer sequence distribution of hydrolyzed polyacrylamide polymers (HPAM) was monitored during lab test to improve our understanding of HPAM stability. The results suggest that accelerated aging of a polymer at reservoir conditions at elevated temperatures will result in a polymer with structure similar to the polymer resulting from extended aging at lower temperatures.