Assessment on the transport of polymeric solution through high-salinity reservoirs containing divalent cations

Abstract

Water salinity and hardness have been regarded as main limitation for field application of polymer floods. It causes not only reduction of polymer concentration, but also injectivity loss in the near wellbore. Based on the mathematical and chemical theory, extensive numerical simulations were conducted to investigate performance of polymer floods in the high-salinity reservoirs. According to results from simulations, the high salinity reduces the viscosity of polymer in contacting area. That causes a poor sweep efficiency of polymer flooding. Moreover, the presence of divalent cations makes the project of polymer flooding worse. That is because of excessively increased bottom-hole pressure in injection well by the precipitation of polymer. The quantitative assessment of polymer floods needs to be required before field application. Therefore, the results in this paper are helpful for optimal polymer flooding design under harsh reservoir conditions.