Effects of polymer adsorption and flow behavior on two-phase flow in porous media

To determine the effect of water-soluble polyacrylamide polymer adsorption and flow behavior on oil recovery, relative permeability and mobility were determined from flow experiments at various polymer concentrations. A selec tive reduction of the relative permeability to water with respect to the re lative permeability to oil was observed for both Berea and reservoir sandst one cores. Adsorbed polymer layer increases water wettability. Relative per meability reduction could be attributed to both wettability change and pore -size restriction due to the adsorbed polymer layer. An empirical model was proposed to correlate the relative permeability reduction and the amount o f polymer adsorption. Depletion-layer effect results in a reduced polymer v iscosity in porous media with respect to bulk solutions. Modification of th e existing shear-rate model allows for accurate prediction of this effect. The integration of the new models in UTCHEM provides a more accurate tool f or engineering design of polymer applications.