Exxon Research and Engineering Company

Exxon Production Research Company

Robert R Klein

Robert D Lundberg

Henry S Makowski

Dennis E O'Brien

Henry S Makowski, Deceased

Jan Bock

Joseph Wagensommer

A continuous process for sulfonating elastomeric polymers to form neutralized sulfonated elastomeric polymers with improved physical properties includes the steps of; (a) contacting a cement of an elastomeric polymer with a sulfonating agent in a staged reaction vessel for a sufficient period of time at a temperature of about -50.degree. C. to about +100.degree. C. to form an unneutralized sulfonated elastomeric polymer; (b) continuously transferring the cement of the unneutralized sulfonated elastomeric polymer to a neutralization vessel; (c) continuously adding a quenching agent and neutralizing agent to the cement of the unneutralized sulfonated elastomeric polymer in a staged neutralization vessel wherein the sulfonated cement is quenched and the neutralization agent reacts with the unneutralized sulfonated polymer to form the neutralized sulfonated elastomeric polymer; and (d) isolating said neutralized sulfonated elastomeric polymer.

Process for the sulfonation of an elastomeric polymer

The present invention relates to a process for the forming of a powder composition of a sulfonated polymer, wherein the powder has a volume density of about 15 to about 30 pounds/cubic foot and a water content of less than 2 wt. % wherein the polymer is selected from neutralized sulfonated elastomeric and thermoplastic polymers.

Process for forming powders from ion containing polymers

The present invention relates to a process for forming a polymeric solution or gel having a viscosity of at least about 50,000 cps which includes the steps forming a solvent system of an organic liquid and a polar cosolvent, the polar cosolvent being less than about 15 wt. % of the solvent system, a viscosity of the solvent system being less than about 1000 cps; dissolving to form a solution, a concentration of the neutralized sulfonated polymer in the solution being about 0.1 to about 20 wt. %, a viscosity of the solution being less than about 20,000 cps; and admixing or contacting said solution with about 5 to about 500 vol. % water, the water being immiscible with the solution and the polar cosolvent transferring from the solution phase to the water phase thereby causing the viscosity of said solution to increase rapidly from less to 20,000 cps to greater than 50,000 cps.

Process for polymeric gelation

The present invention relates to a process for forming a polymeric solution or gel having a viscosity of less than about 50,000 cps which includes the steps of forming a solvent system of an organic liquid and a polar cosolvent, the polar cosolvent being less than about 15 wt. % of the solvent system, a viscosity of the solvent system being less than about 1,000 cps: dissolving a neutralized sulfonated polymer in the solvent system to form a solution, a concentration of the neutralized sulfonated polymer in the solution being about 0.5 to about 20 wt. %, a viscosity of the solution being about 5 to about 5,000 cps; and adding about 1 to about 500 vol. % water to the solution having a viscosity less than about 5,000 cps, the water being immiscible with the solution and the polar cosolvent transferring from the solution phase to the water phase thereby causing the viscosity of said solution to increase by a factor of at least 2 to less than 50,000 cps.

Process for controlled gelation of polymeric solution (C-971)

The present invention relates to a process for the forming of a powdered composition of a sulfonated EPDM terpolymer, having less than 1.25 wt. % ENB wherein the powder has a particle size distribution of from about 500 to about 3,000 microns, a water content of less than 2 wt. %, and a sulfonate content of less than 250 meq./100 g polymer.

Process for forming a powdered sulfonated EPDM terpolymer (C-951)

The present invention relates to a process for forming a polymeric solution or gel having a viscosity of at least about 50,000 cps which includes the steps of dissolving an unneutralized or neutralized sulfonated polymer in a solvent to form a solution, a concentration of the unneutralized or neutralized sulfonated polymer in the solution being about 0.1 to about 20 wt. %, a viscosity of the solution being less than about 20,000 cps; and adding about 5 to about 500 vol. % water to the solution having a viscosity less than about 20,000 cps, the water being immiscible with the solvent and the solution, the viscosity of said solution increasing rapidly upon the addition of said water from less than 20,000 cps to greater than 50,000 cps.

Process for gelation of polymeric solution (C-1042)

A process for forming a powdered EPDM terpolymer, wherein the powder of said EPDM terpolymer has a volume density of about 10 to about 30 lb/ft.sup.3 which includes the steps of adding a cement of an EPDM terpolymer in a hydrocarbon solvent to water, a volume ratio of the water to the cement being about 60 to 1 to about 2 to 1; emulsify under high-shear the blend of the water and the cement thereby forming a dispersion of particles of the EPDM terpolymer in the water; steam stripping under high agitation the emulsified blend of the EPDM terpolymer, the water and the solvent thereby removing the solvent from the emulsified blend; filtering the dispersion of the particles of the EPDM terpolymer in the water to recover a wet powder of the EPDM terpolymer; and hot-air drying the wet powder of the EPDM terpolymer in a fluid-bed dryer.

Process for forming a powdered EPDM terpolymer (C-955)

The present invention relates to a process for forming a polymeric solution or gel having a viscosity of at least about 50,000 cps which includes the steps forming a solvent system of an organic liquid and a polar cosolvent, the polar cosolvent being less than about 15 wt. % of the solvent system, a viscosity of the solvent system being less than about 1000 cps; dissolving a neutralized sulfonated polymer in the solvent system to form a solution, a concentration of the neutralized sulfonated polymer in the solution being about 0.1 to about 20 wt. %, a viscosity of the solution being less than about 20,000 cps; and adding about 5 to about 500 vol. % water to the solution having viscosity less than about 20,000 cps, the water being immiscible with the solution and the polar cosolvent transferring from the solution phase to the water phase thereby causing the viscosity of said solution to increase from less than 20,000 cps to greater than 50,000 cps.

Process for controlled gelation of polymeric solution (C-669)

This invention relates to a process for the formation of a neutralized sulfonated polymer having about 10 to about 60 meq. sulfonate groups, wherein the sulfonate groups are neutralized with a zinc counterion. A cement of a polymer having olefinic functional groups and a non-reactive solvent is contacted with a sulfonated agent such as an acyl sulfate. The sulfonated polymer is then neutralized with a solution of zinc acetate dissolved in a solvent system of methanol alone or methanol and water, wherein the volume percent of methanol based on non-reactive solvent is less than about 10. A carboxylic acid can be then added to the cement of the neutralized sulfonated polymer thereby forming a zinc salt of the carboxylic acid in situ, wherein the zinc salt of the carboxylic acid is a preferential plasticizer for the zinc sulfonate groups. The Brookfield viscosity at 0.6 rpm at room temperature of the cement of the zinc neutralized sulfonated polymer is less than about 50,000 cps.

Process for forming a Zn sulfonate containing elastomer

This invention relates to improved polymeric compositions of metal, amine and ammonium neutralized sulfonated polymers which are preferentially plasticized with an N-substituted organic carbamate at a minimum critical concentration level of at least 1 part by weight based on 100 parts by weight of the neutralized polymer, wherein N-substituted organic carbamate has the general formula selected from the group of: ##STR1## wherein R.sub.1, and R.sub.2 are normal or branched chain alkyl, cycloalkyl, aryl, alkaryl, or arylalkyl groups such as ethyl, butyl, octadecyl, behenyl, phenyl, benzyl, and dodecylphenyl and R.sub.4 and R.sub.6 and either R.sub.1 or R.sub.2 must be a long chain, preferably linear, saturated group containing from about 10 to about 50 carbon atoms and R.sub.3 and R.sub.5 are di, tri, or tetrafunctional aliphatic, cycloaliphatic, aryl or alkaryl groups and m is 2, 3, or 4 and n is 2, 3 or 4.

Plasticization of neutralized sulfonated elastomeric polymer with

Improvements in the treatment of wells that penetrate subterranean formations are accomplished through the use of a polymer solution which includes a neutralized ionomeric polymer dissolved in an organic solvent and a polar cosolvent. The polymer has a backbone that is substantially soluble in the organic solvent and pendant ionomeric groups that are substantially insoluble in the organic solvent. The polar cosolvent solubilizes the pendant ionomeric groups such that the polymer solution upon introduction into the well has a viscosity less than about 20,000 centipoises and upon mixing with water the polar cosolvent is taken up by the water causing the polymer to aggregate and increase in viscosity sufficient to form a plug. The polymer solution may be used in well drilling operations, well completion operations, and secondary recovery operations.

Method of treating a borehole using gellable polymers

This invention relates to plasticized metal neutralized sulfonated EPDM terpolymers having at least 65 wt. % of ethylene in the backbone of the EPDM terpolymer and extended compositions of these metal neutralized sulfonated EPDM terpolymers having 100 parts of a neutralized sulfonated EPDM terpolymer; less than about 100 parts per hundred of a non-polar process oil; less than about 300 parts per hundred of a filler; and a preferential plasticizer at about less than 60 parts per hundred based on 100 parts of the sulfonated elastomeric polymer. These compositions can be readily processed due to their superior rheological properties on conventional plastic fabrication equipment, especially on low pressure injection molding and extrusion equipment into elastomeric articles having improved physical properties.

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Berkeley Heights, NJ, United States of America

Robert R Klein