Polymer Flooding as One of the Most Promising Technologies in Enhanced Oil Recovery: an Update Review

Polymer flooding is an excellent candidate for improving recovery factor through increasing volumetric sweep efficiency. Polymers generally are used to increase the viscosity of the displacing fluid. These chemicals, significantly reduce the mobility ratio between the displacing and displaced fluid. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive review about EOR methods, pros and cons of polymer flooding, assess Modified Conventional Polymers as a smart polymers and compared to conventional polymers, and express new smart materials for synthesizing novel polymer. The properties of conventional and novel water-soluble polymers applied in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) are discussed along with their limitations. In addition, this review covers current research studies about new conventional smart polymers and properties which suitable for high-temperature and high salinity reservoirs. Besides, express new smart material for synthesizing novel polymers to overcome limitations due to harsh reservoir conditions.

Keywords:

EOR , polymer flooding , smart polymers , hydrophobically monomers , high temperature and high salinity reservoirs