Technologies

High molecular-weight water-soluble polymers are frequently added in the aqueous-based fluids to improve their flow and rheological properties, such as increasing viscosity and reducing friction. The fluid dynamics is a sub-discipline of the fluid mechanics that describes the flow of fluids, such as liquids and gases. At ChemEOR, our main interests lie in applications of the fundamental fluid dynamics of liquids, more specifically in the effects of different polymer additives on dynamic and rheological behaviors of fluids, to guide advanced polymer synthesis, manufacture and applications.

Water is widely used as the base fluid in many oilfield applications, such as for drilling, completion, acidizing, stimulation, fracturing, waterflooding, and enhanced production. Polymers, especially the water-soluble polymers, either naturally produced by living organisms or chemically synthesized, have been included in aqueous solutions to improve their flow properties. The fluid dynamic and rheological behavior change with different molecular types (i.e., monomer, charge, and the special functional group), polymer types (i.e., linear, branched, associative and crosslinked), degrees of polymerization and hydrolysis, polymer concentrations, and so on. Therefore, in-depth understanding of the molecular structure of polymer and fluid dynamic theory are equally important in polymer design, manufacture and applications.

Unique Features of ChemEOR’s Technologies

One of the primary objectives of ChemEOR is to provide custom-designed high-performance polymer products for a number of oilfield applications, wherein the fundamental polymer science and basic fluid dynamic and rheological theories play important roles in our polymer design, manufacture and applications. A number of important aspects of ChemEOR’s polymer technology are:

About Polymer Fluid Rheology
Molecular-level understanding of the polymer structure and the polymer-included fluid dynamic and rheological behaviors are critical to polymer design and applications.

Key Ingredients in Polymer Fluid Science
•   Density and viscosity
•   Critical association
    concentration
•   Thermal stability and brine
    tolerance
•   Dispersion, colloidal and
    suspension
•   Gels, nanoparticles and
    particulates
•   Laminar and turbulent fluid flow
•   Viscous, viscoelastic, and elastic
    properties
•   Shear rate and stress

Surfactants (Surface Active Agents) are usually organic chemicals that have both oil and water soluble components in their structures. A solution containing a surfactant and/or a mixture of surfactants can therefore reduce the oil-water interfacial tension (IFT) (liquid-liquid), or alter the wetting tendency of the reservoir rock surface (liquid-solid), or increase/decrease foaming formation (gas-liquid). Having a fundamental basis of knowledge for the surface chemistry is the key to rationalize surfactant formulation design and selection for various oilfield applications.

Surface Chemistry deals with modification of chemical properties on the interface between two phases, including solid-liquid interface, liquid-liquid interface, liquid-gas interface and solid-gas interface, which are often immiscible or incompatible, wherein surfactants play essential roles. In between of these two phases, there exists a surface tension, or interfacial tension (IFT) that is a more specific term for the liquid-liquid interface, which prevents their mixing together well. A surfactant molecule contains at least two distinguishable parts, each tends to have more affiliation to one side of the interface. When the surfactant is positioned at the interface, it can exhibit unique features to alter its properties.

Unique Features of ChemEOR’s Technologies

With almost an infinite number of potential surfactant candidates, it requires in-depth understanding of the surface chemistry and intelligent designs of the surfactant products to achieve the best product performance in a cost-effective and environmentally-compliant manner. An integrated theoretical and laboratory study guided by conventional expertise and advanced molecule-level understanding of the surface chemistry is essential: ChemEOR’s advanced surfactant technologies include:

About Surface Chemistry
Surface chemistry is essential to optimize surfactant formulations for the best performance in a cost-effective and environmentally-compliant manner.

Key Ingredients in the Surface Chemistry of Surfactants
•   Surfactant types and
    functionalities
•   Molecular structures of
    surfactants
•   Emulsion and microemulsion
•   Adsorption and absorption
•   Foaming and defoaming
•   Micelle and packing parameter
•   Surface wettability alternation
•   Stability and tendency to degrade
•   Phase behavior and rheological
    properties