EOR by CO2-based surfactants and polymers

New solutions, Game Changers, are needed for the next generation EOR to recover significantly more of the Original Oil in Place than what is achieved with today's techniques. This is relevant for example to improve the performance when using CO2 in tertia ry EOR. Tertiary EOR recovery methods, like gas injection and chemical methods (polymer flooding, surfactants) currently receive high focus with a need for technology development. The project aimed at clarifying the technical opportunities, challenges and development needs for the use of novel polymers and surfactants, poly(alkylene carbonates), produced directly from CO2 as a raw material, in various EOR techniques. Poly(alkylene carbonates) contain up to 50 weight % CO2 and offer potential advantages fo r use in CO2-EOR due to their biodegradability, they are non-fluorous, have beneficial properties related to CO2 solubility and swelling and, not the least, are expected to have a beneficial manufacturing process. The manufacturing technology is yet imma ture and Norner is actively working to develop a continuous process to enable the manufacturing of poly(propylene carbonate) in a commercially viable process. The project has evaluated the potential for using poly(alkylene carbonates) made from CO2 in pol ymer flooding, as CO2 thickeners and as non-ionic surfactants for CO2 foam stabilization. Despite the mentioned attractive properties and initial promising indications, the main conclusion is that these polymers are not fit for use in relevant reservoir conditions where the polymer structure shall remain to a large extent intact in contact with brine and reservoir chemicals at elevated temperatures. The knowledge gained in this project will be valuable for further projects in the EOR field.

New solutions, Game Changers,for CO2 conformance and mobility control are needed for the next generation EOR to recover significantly more of the Original Oil in Place than what is achieved with today's techniques. The project aims at clarifying the techn ical opportunities, challenges and development needs for the use of novel polymers and surfactants, produced by using CO2 as a raw material, in various EOR techniques.