Phillips Petroleum Company

Conocophillips Company

Everett L Johnston

Ahmad Moradi-Araghi

Riley Bryan Needham

James H Hedges

Faye Lynn Scully

David R Zornes

James W Gall

Karen H Carney

Faye L Scully

Riley B Needham

Ahmad Moradiaraghi

The invention is directed to stable crosslinked water-soluble swellable polymers, methods for making same, and their various uses in the hygiene and medical arts, gel electrophoresis, packaging, agriculture, the cable industry, information technology, in the food industry, papermaking, use as flocculation aids, and the like. More particularly, the invention relates to a composition comprising expandable polymeric microparticles having labile crosslinkers and stable crosslinkers, said microparticle mixed with a fluid and an unreacted tertiary crosslinker that is capable of further crosslinking the microparticle on degradation of the labile crosslinker so as to form a stable gel. A particularly important use is as an injection fluid in petroleum production, where the expandable polymeric particles are injected into a well and when the heat and/or pH of the well cause degradation of the labile crosslinker and when the particle expands, the tertiary crosslinker crosslinks the polymer to form a stable gel, thus diverting water to lower permeability regions and improving oil recovery.

Crosslinked swellable polymer

A process for treating a subterranean formation comprises adding a crosslinking agent intermittently to a stream of gellable polymer wherein the gellable polymer forms a gel in the formation, in the presence of the crosslinking agent.

Process for treating oil-bearing formation

A process for preventing the seepage of hazardous waste material in a waste treatment pond or the loss of heat and evaporation of water in a solar pond comprises controlling the migration of a gelling composition where the density of the gelling composition is adjusted depending on the density of the residence brine of the pond so that the gelling composition gels in a desired location of the pond.

Use of a gelling composition in waste treatment disposal or solar ponds

A process for controlling the migration of a gelling composition for enhanced oil recovery by blocking water or gas coning comprises injecting a gelling composition into a subterranean formation where the density of the gelling composition is adjusted depending on the density of the formation brine or oil so that the gelling composition gels in a desired location of the formation.

Blocking water coning in oil and gas producing reservoirs

A method is provided for plugging an underground formation in which a composition of water, a polymer capable of gelling in the presence of a crosslinking agent, and a crosslinking agent capable of gelling the polymer are injected into an underground formation with maintenance of the pH in the underground formation within the range of about 3 to about 7. In an embodiment of the invention plugging of the underground formation can be removed by decreasing the pH in the formation below 3 or increasing the pH in the formation above 7.

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Bartlesville, OK, United States of America

Everett L Johnston