Effect of including a hydrophobic comonomer on the rheology of an acrylamide-acrylic acid based copolymer

Synthesis and design of polymer systems based on acrylamide for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) is essential for reservoirs with high salinity and high temperature conditions. The use of associative monomers or the modification of the polymers with hydrophobic functional groups represents a promising alternative that extends the use of chemical EOR. In this study, terpolymers based on acrylamide, acrylic acid and butyl methacrylate were synthesized and the rheological properties of aqueous solutions of the obtained polymers at different pH values, and salt concentrations were evaluated. The results show that at alkaline conditions the viscosity of aqueous solutions of a polymer synthesized with 68.6 wt% of acrylamide, 22.9 wt% of acrylic acid and 8.6 wt% of butyl methacrylate increases by a factor of more than 1,000 at a 3 wt% concentration. Also, all polymers with the hydrophobic modification showed higher viscosity in saline solutions compared to their acrylamide-acrylic acid analogue.