Polyelectrolyte nanoparticles for flow assurance
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abstract
Nanoparticles consisting of self-assembling complexes of polyanions and polycations are able to entrap various charged species, including many oil and gas chemicals. Entrapment in these polyelectrolyte complexes (PEC) is through a combination of electrostatic and steric interactions. Entrapped material is protected from the hostile subterranean environment, and its release delayed while it is transported to target locations underground. The size and surface charge of the nanoparticles can be tuned to favor propagation or retention in porous media. This is a flexible technology with great promise for the upstream oil and gas industry. The application of this technology to two aspects of flow assurance, i.e., delayed gelation of polymers used in water shut-off and conformance control by entrapping crosslinking agents such as Cr(III), and guar-based hydraulic fracturing fluid cleanup using PEC-entrapped enzymes, is presented. Further targets of this approach include other flow assurance applications, e.g., near-wellbore surfactant placement for condensate remediation; enhanced retention and delayed release of scale inhibitors; and EOR efforts such as in-depth nutrient delivery for MEOR and bioremediation, alkaline-surfactant-polymer flooding, and in-depth placement surfactants for wettability alteration. This is an abstract of a paper presented at the 2012 AIChE Spring Meeting and 8th Global Congress on Process Safety (Houston, TX 4/1-5/2012).
