Investigating the Effect of Several Parameters on the Gelation Behavior of Partially Hydrolyzed Polyacrylamide-Hexamine-Hydroquinone Gels

The polymer gel systems are mostly used for the control of excessive water production during enhanced oil recovery operations in mature oil fields. However, these polymer gels are not stable in the high-temperature and high-salinity reservoir. Keeping these in mind, an attempt was made to investigate the effect of several parameters on the gelation time of polymer gels for its suitable application in the oil fields. In this paper, a polymer gel comprised of partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide as a water-soluble polymer and hydroquinone and hexamine as organic cross-linking agents of low toxicity was prepared to control excessive water production. The effect of various parameters such as polymer and cross-linker concentrations, temperature, pH, and salinity on the gelation time and gel strength was evaluated using the bottle testing method, and variations in the performance of the polymer system were analyzed under different gel compositions and environmental conditions.