Hybrid Polymer-Thermal Flooding for Heavy Oil Production: A Critical Review of Experimental and Numerical Advancements

Abstract

The world energy demands are ever increasing as conventional oil deposits continue to depleted and the interest in novel Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) procedures. This review considers the hybrid polymer-thermal EOR that aims to combine the advantages of thermal EOR to use a lower viscosity with the property of increasing the power of sweeps in polymer flooding. The traditional polymers such as partially hydrolyzed polyacryl amide (HPAM) are vulnerable to degradation by high temperature and high salinity conditions of reservoirs. New developments such as the use of nanocomposite systems on natural biopolymers (xanthan gum, guar gum, gum arabic) enhanced with silica, alumina or magnesium nanoparticles are also promising. Laboratory experiments (viscometry, FTIR, SEM, TGA, core flooding, and ECLIPSE simulations) show that under simulated reservoir conditions, the viscosity of the oil is better retained and leads to higher oil recovery. Gum arabic nanocomposites demonstrate a certain potential even with a reduced base viscosity. It is a synthesis of existing knowledge on polymer-thermal EOR mechanisms, identifies gaps in the current knowledge, and suggests future research directions including material innovation and development of tools to simulation in order to achieve sustainable heavy oil recovery.