Conocophillips Company

University of Kansas

Phillips Petroleum Company

Other

James H Hedges

Ahmad Moradi-Araghi

Riley Bryan Needham

Faye Lynn Scully

Cory Berkland

Jenn-Tai Liang

Min Cheng

Huili Guan

David R Zornes

Terry M Christian

James P Johnson

Henry L Hsieh

Geir Bjornson

Gilbert R Glinsmann

Ying-Ying Lin

G Allan Stahl

I John Westerman

Everett L Johnston

Ramesh S Sarathi

Ahmad Moradiaraghi

John Westerman

David H Beardmore

Gibert R Glinsmann

Allan Stahl

Riley B Needham

Faye L Scully

Michael J Geier

James Pryor Johnson

David Russell Zornes

Riley Byran Needham

The invention is directed to stable and labile crosslinked water swellable polymeric microparticles that can be further gelled by covalent crosslinking in a transamidation reaction, 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 comprising PEI or other polyamine based tertiary crosslinker that is capable of further crosslinking the microparticle on degradation of the labile crosslinker and swelling of the particle, so as to form a stable gel. A particularly important use is as an injection fluid in petroleum production, where the expandable polymeric microparticles are injected into a well and when the heat and/or pH of the well cause degradation of the labile crosslinker and when the microparticle expands, the tertiary crosslinker crosslinks the polymer to form a stable gel, thus diverting water to lower permeability regions and improving oil recovery.

Crosslinking of swellable polymer with PEI

The instant application relates to nanogels or compositions that hold multivalent metal ions until some level of nanogel degradation has occurred, then slowly release the multivalent metal ions for gelation with carboxylate containing polymers. Compositions comprising such nanogels, together with polymers that can be crosslinked with multivalent metal ions, allow the deployment of such mixtures in various applications, and greatly increased gelation times.

Nanogels for delayed gelation

The invention is directed to delayed gelation agents comprising a degradable polymeric cage containing therein one or more gelation agents. The cage degrades in situ, e.g, in an oil reservoir, thus releasing the gelation agent(s), which can then crosslink second polymers in situ to form a gel.

Delayed gelling agents

The disclosure is directed to polyelectrolyte complex nanoparticles that can be used to deliver agents deep into hydrocarbon reservoirs. Methods of making and using said polyelectrolyte complex nanoparticles are also provided.

The invention is directed to stable and labile crosslinked water swellable polymeric microparticles that can be further gelled, 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 comprising PEI or other polyamine based tertiary crosslinker that is capable of further crosslinking the microparticle on degradation of the labile crosslinker and swelling of the particle, so as to form a stable gel. A particularly important use is as an injection fluid in petroleum production, where the expandable polymeric microparticles are injected into a well and when the heat and/or pH of the well cause degradation of the labile crosslinker and when the microparticle expands, the tertiary crosslinker crosslinks the polymer to form a stable gel, thus diverting water to lower permeability regions and improving oil recovery.

The invention is directed to polymers that self-crosslink at acidic pH or can be crosslinked by phenolic agents in brine. Such polymers have lower viscosity and can be pumped deep into reservoirs, where they will cross link in situ, thus increasing their viscosity and/or form a gel and blocking thief zones. Methods of making and using such polymers are also provided.

Low pH crosslinking of polymers

Low PH crosslinking of polymers

The invention is directed to delayed gelation agents comprising a degradable polymeric cage containing therein one or more gelation agents. The cage degrades in situ, e.g., in an oil reservoir, thus releasing the gelation agent(s), which can then crosslink second polymers in situ to form a gel.

Growing community of inventors

Bartlesville, OK, United States of America

James H Hedges