Effects of polymer adsorption and flow behavior on two-phase flow in porous media

To determine the effect of water-soluble polyacrylamide polymer adsorption and flow behavior on oil recovery, relative permeability and mobility were determined from flow experiments at various polymer concentrations. A selective reduction of the relative permeability to water with respect to the relative permeability to oil was observed for both Berea and reservoir sandstone cores. Adsorbed polymer layer increases water wettability. Relative permeability reduction could be attributed to both wettability change and pore-size restriction due to the adsorbed polymer layer. An empirical model was proposed to correlate the relative permeability reduction and the amount of polymer adsorption. Depletion-layer effect results in a reduced polymer viscosity in porous media with respect to bulk solutions. Modification of the existing shear-rate model allows for accurate prediction of this effect. The integration of the new models in UTCHEM provides a more accurate tool for engineering design of polymer applications.