Abstract: 2009-045

Colloidal Dispersion Gels (CDG) Versus

Polymer Flooding for EOR
L. ROMERO-ZERÓN
University of New Brunswick

This abstract has been submitted for possible selection and presentation at the Petroleum Society’s
Canadian International Petroleum Conference 2009 Calgary, Alberta, 16-18 June 2009 Publication rights are
reserved.

Abstract
The demand of conventional oil is higher than the current production rate! This is due to the fast depletion of
conventional oil reservoirs. An alternative solution to fulfill the oil demand will be to maximize the production from
the existing conventional oil fields. Water and gas flooding are the secondary recovery techniques mostly used.
However, the effectiveness of water flooding depends on its ability to uniformly sweep oil through the oil formation.
One of the major problems in many of these fields is channeling due to cracks, fractures, and high permeability “thief
zones”. The presence of cracks and fractures will increase heterogeneity in porous medium leading to uneven
permeability distribution across the sand units. Water or gas then tends to “channel” through the paths with least
resistance – regions of high permeability. Whenever there is a channeling problem during water or gas flooding, there
will be poor sweep efficiency. The ability to treat the channeling problem will result in increased oil recovery in these
fields. One of the EOR techniques that has claimed to provide an economical solution to channeling and improved
efficiency during flooding in porous media is the use of colloidal dispersion gels (CDG). However, there have been
controversies on the results of CDG use. Some previous studies dispute the claim of CDG’s effectiveness and try to
prove otherwise.

The focus of this study is to understand the effects of CDG treatment on water flooding sweep efficiency in
unconsolidated porous media. The performance of CDG is compared with the performance of polymer flooding at the
same experimental conditions. A model glass-bead sand pack is used as the porous media for this work. Small diameter
capillary tubes have been inserted within the sand to artificially model “high permeability channels”. Partly hydrolyzed
polyacrylamide (HPAM) is used during polymer injection and HPAM crosslinked with Cr (III) Acetate is used to
formulate the CDG. Mineral oil diluted with kerosene is used as the oil phase during the displacement tests.

The experimental results demonstrate the performance of CDG in improving sweep efficiency during water flooding in
unconsolidated porous media having high permeability channels. Similarly, polymer flooding performance is compared
with the behavior of CDG.