STUDY THE EFFECTIVENESS OF AN ORGANICALLY CROSSLINKED POLYMER NANOCOMPOSITE HYDROGEL FOR WATER SHUTOFF IN THE OILFIELDS

This research article involves the synthesis of polyacrylamide nanoclay composite by free radical polymerization of acrylamide monomer and sodium montmorillonite nanoclay. Further, synthesized polymer nanocomposite was utilized for the development of hydrogel by crosslinking it with hexamine and pyrocatechol. X-ray diffraction pattern (XRD) and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectra revealed the formation of polymer nanocomposite hydrogel. The effects of the clay content on the thermal stability and gel strength of the polymer nanocomposite gel system were investigated by Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The effects of various parameters such as polymer concentration, crosslinker concentration and temperature on the gelation time were measured using bottle testing method. Experimental investigations furnish that the developed polymer nanocomposite gel system has more thermal and mechanical stability than the conventional gel system. Finally, the effectiveness of developed hydrogel was analyzed using in situ gelation & core flooding experiments. This gel system has high plugging ability which favors its suitability for water shutoff in the oilfields.