Gelation kinetics of PAM/PEI system

Excess water production in oil and gas wells causes serious productivity and environmental problems in the oilfield. A mixture composed of a polymer, cross-linker, and water is usually injected into the reservoir to block unwanted water by forming a three-dimensional structure. This transition process from solution to gel is a function of temperature, time, salinity of mixing water, and concentration of the various components. The gelling solution was prepared by mixing polyacrylamide (PAM) with distilled water, and then polyethylenimine (PEI) was added as a cross-linker. The injection process was simulated and investigated by differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) over the temperature range of 80–120 °C. The DSC dynamic scan showed two consecutive peaks. An endothermic peak was observed at low temperature due to PAM alkaline hydrolysis which ends at around 60 °C. Another exotherm was observed at ~70 °C which corresponds to the onset of cross-linking of PAM and PEI. It was found that high temperatures lead to high release of heat due to gelation. The effect of salts on the cross-linking was also examined. More delay in cross-linking was observed in the case of NH₄Cl compared to NaCl. The gelation kinetics was modeled using a rate process model that relates fractional gelation with time. Further, Avrami model, usually used to study crystallization kinetics, was also used to model the gelation process. Kinetic parameters were obtained from the two different models, and the results showed good agreement with experimental data. The presence of salts in seawater leads to a drop of 60–80 % in the rate constant without influencing the order of the gelation reaction.