Modeling Preformed Particle Gel Swelling (PPG) and Deswelling Kinetics

Preformed Particle Gels(PPG) have been injected into mature oil reservoirs as a form of conformance control to decrease reservoir heterogeneity to improve sweep efficiencies during water injection for enhanced oil recovery. The ultimate purpose of this research is to provide a fundamental basis for gel selection. This work involves the study of swelling and deswelling kinetics of cross linked Acrylamide/ Potassium Acrylate Copolymer Preformed Particle Gels. The swelling and deswelling kinetic curves of the PPG were measured and their swelling and deswelling kinetic parameters were estimated. The activation energy for PPG’s swelling and deswelling was found. The equilibrium swelling ratios of the PPG in brine solutions of different concentrations were determined from both the swelling and deswelling processes. Results showed that PPG swelling capacity increases with temperature but decreases with salinity. PPG deswelling capacity increases with temperature and also salinity