SPE 141497

Pushing the Envelope for Polymer Flooding Towards High-temperature and

High-salinity Reservoirs with Polyacrylamide Based Ter-polymers
E.C.M. Vermolen, SPE and Shell Global Solutions International, M.J.T. van Haasterecht, Shell Global Solutions
International, S.K. Masalmeh, SPE and Shell Technology Oman LLC., M.J. Faber, SPE and Shell Global Solutions
International, D.M. Boersma, SPE and Shell Global Solutions International, M. Gruenenfelder, SPE and SNFHC

Copyright 2011, Society of Petroleum Engineers

This paper was prepared for presentation at the SPE Middle East Oil and Gas Show and Conference held in Manama, Bahrain, 25–28 September 2011.

This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE program committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents of the paper have not been
reviewed by the Society of Petroleum Engineers and are subject to correction by the author(s). The material does not necessarily reflect any position of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, its
officers, or members. Electronic reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this paper without the written consent of the Society of Petroleum Engineers is prohibited. Permission to
reproduce in print is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words; illustrations may not be copied. The abstract must contain conspicuous acknowledgment of SPE copyright.

Abstract
Polymer flooding is a mature EOR technique successfully applied in both sandstone and carbonate reservoirs and it is expected
to have much wider applications in the future. However, it is currently limited mainly by a combination of reservoir
temperature and make-up brine salinity and hardness, as synthetic polymers can chemically and thermally degrade at high
temperature and salinity.

This paper reports the results of an ongoing study aimed at finding polymers that can enlarge the application envelope of
polymer flooding to, for example, high-temperature and high-salinity Middle Eastern carbonate reservoirs. In this study
thermal stability of a number of commercially available polymers was tested at 120°C in various brines. The polymers
investigated are partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (HPAM) based co- and ter-polymers functionalized with 2-Acrylamido-
2-Methylpropane Sulfonate (AMPS) and/or n-Vinyl Pyrrolidone (n-VP) monomers. These monomers provide tolerance to
divalent ions and protection to hydrolysis at higher temperatures.

The thermal stability tests showed a clear relationship between the polymer stability and the concentration of the
functionalizing monomer. Incorporation of the AMPS monomer alone does not stabilize the polymer in brines which contain
divalent ions. The additional incorporation of n-VP demonstrates a stabilizing effect which is optimal at a concentration of 35-
50%. The optimal ter-polymer is stable at 120°C in brines with salinity up to 200,000 ppm TDS and divalent ion concentration
up to 18,000 ppm for more than 180 days.

Another challenge to polymer flooding is the adsorption of polymers onto the reservoir rock. The adsorption of the ter-
polymers on carbonate core material was investigated in this study as a function of the polymer type and pH.
This is the first work to prove the feasibility of polymer flooding at temperatures up to 120°C in high-salinity reservoirs in the
presence of a high concentration of divalent ions. These results will significantly enlarge the application envelope for polymer
flooding.

1. Introduction
Polymer flooding is widely applied as a tertiary oil recovery technology for improved mobility control and sweep efficiency,
both alone and in combination with surfactant and alkali. The application range of polymer as a viscosifier is currently limited
by the reservoir temperature and the make-up brine salinity and hardness due to chemical degradation of the polymer. The
viscosity of the traditional polymer solutions cannot be maintained during polymer propagation at high temperature or high
salinity (Lake, 1996). In chemical degradation a distinction is made between thermal degradation and radical degradation.
Thermal degradation can lead to a chemical change of the functional groups of the polymer. An example is the hydrolysis of
the acrylamide moieties to the negatively charged acrylate. These negative charges can initially cause an increase in viscosity
because of intra-chain charge repulsion. However, in the presence of divalent ions (Ca2+ and Mg2+), hydrolysis will ultimately
2 SPE 141497

lead to viscosity loss and partial precipitation due to a bridging effect of these ions with the negatively charged moieties. At
higher concentrations of divalent ions, viscosity loss and precipitation due to hydrolysis occurs. Moreover, the hydrolysis level
increases significantly as a function of temperature. Radical degradation is also an important mechanism for chemical
degradation of polymer. Free radicals can cleave the polymer backbone which results in a reduced molecular weight and
significantly lower viscosity. The formation of free radicals is enhanced at higher temperatures and in the presence of oxygen.
In the absence of dissolved oxygen and divalent cations, HPAM solutions were projected to maintain at least half their
viscosity for at least 7 years at 100°C (Seright, et al., 2009). For other cases, modified high-temperature polymers have to be
designed.
Polyacrylamides can be modified with various monomers to protect them from degradation. The incorporation of the anionic
monomer 2-Acrylamido-2-Methylpropane Sulfonate (AMPS) was shown to give increased tolerance to divalent ions (Levitt &
Pope, 2008), but this monomer does not protect the acrylamide against thermal hydrolysis (Moradi-Araghi, et al., 1987). Also,
the tolerated Ca2+concentration was found to be less than 2000 ppm for a polymer containing 20-30% AMPS monomer, which
is still well below the Ca2+concentration found in some high-saline carbonate reservoirs. The incorporation of n-Vinyl
Pyrrolidone (n-VP) effectively protects the acrylamide groups against thermal hydrolysis. Earlier stability tests on n-VP/AM
co-polymers in a weight ratio of 50:50 have shown this polymer to have long term stability in seawater at 120°C. (Doe, et al.,
1987). New data has become available recently on the stability of a n-VP/AM co-polymer in controlled aerobic conditions
(Gaillard, Giovannetti, & Favero, 2010). It was found that this polymer was able to resist the presence of 200 ppb of O2 at a
temperature of 120°C in a 50 g/l NaCl brine without the need of protective additives.
In this paper the long-term thermal stability of polymers containing n-VP and AMPS monomers is evaluated at 120°C in high-
salinity brines with divalent ion concentrations up to 18,000 ppm. A range of n-VP concentrations was tested to determine the
minimum concentration of n-VP needed to obtain a stable polymer in these harsh conditions. The effect of CO2 on the polymer
viscosity was also investigated as well as the static adsorption of the various polymers on carbonate material.

2. Experimental Procedures
2.1. Polymer preparation
All of the polymers examined in this paper were provided in powder form by the industrial production workshop of SNF. A
list of these polymers and their compositions is given in Table 1. The polymers represent a range of compositions from pure
hydrolyzed polyacrylamide, consisting of only acrylamide (AM) and acrylate (AA) monomers, to ter-polymers, consisting of
AM, AMPS and n-VP monomers. With this selection of polymers, the effect of the AMPS and n-VP monomers on the
temperature and salinity resistance can be systematically studied. The last polymer in Table 1 is a conventional high-molecular
weight hydrolyzed polyacrylamide polymer containing Flopaam Protected Polymer Package (“F3P”) in the formulation. The
advantage of the F3P package compared to the conventional Isopropanol, Thiourea, and Water (ITW) protective package lies
in the fact that the dedicated surface facilities for ITW (storage, dilution, pumps, tanks) are not needed. In addition, HSE issues
associated with handling of isopropanol, with a very low flash point, are eliminated.

Table 1 List of polymer products and compositions

Product Code name AM/AA AMPS n-VP
Superpusher SAV 522 n-VP Polymer 4 25-45% 20-25% 35-50%
Superpusher SAV 301 n-VP Polymer 3 50-65% 20-25% 15-25%
DP/GC 2878-6 n-VP Polymer 2 60-70% 20-25% 10-15%
DP/GC 2878-3 n-VP Polymer 1 65-75% 20-25% 5-10%
AN 125 SH AMPS Polymer 75-80% 20-25%
Flopaam 3630S F3P HPAM Polymer+ 100%

The polymers were dissolved in four different brines: Arabian Gulf Seawater (AGS, 43730 ppm TDS), desalinated AGS (240
ppm TDS), 200 g/l NaCl brine and a Carbonate Reservoir brine (180,000 ppm TDS), of which the brine compositions are
given in Table 2. These brines were selected to be able to test the effect of high salinity (in the Carbonate Reservoir brine and
the 200 g/l NaCl brine) and the effect of a high concentration of divalent ions (in the AGS and Carbonate Reservoir brines)
on the stability of the polymers in comparison with the low saline desalinated AGS brine.
SPE 141497 3

Table 2 Brine compositions

AGS Desalinated Carbonate
(mg/l) AGS (mg/l) Reservoir (mg/l)
Na+ 13404 87 49898
K+ 483 4 0.0
Mg2+ 1618 2 3248
Ca2+ 508 1 14501
Sr2+ 17.0 0.0 0.0
Cl- 24140 143 111810
SO42- 3384 2 234
HCO3- 176 2 162
TDS 43730 241 179853

All polymer solutions were prepared in a glove box with a N2-purged environment having an oxygen concentration less than 5
ppb (measured with Knick Protos® 3400C oxygen sensor). Oxygen was removed from the brine by stirring with a magnetic
stirring bar in the glove box. When the low oxygen level (< 5 ppb) was attained, the polymer powder was added to the vortex
in the brine while stirring. The polymer solution was stirred in the glove box for 48 hours to ensure complete hydration of the
polymer. Polymer concentrations were chosen such that the solution viscosities were close to 20 cP (at 25°C and a shear rate
of 5.68 s-1) at the start of the experiments, which allowed accurate measurement of viscosity differences during the stability
tests.

2.2. Polymer stability tests

All polymer solutions were stored in an oven in a metal and oxygen free environment, obtained by continuous N2-purging.
Polymer samples were taken out of the oven at pre-determined times for viscosity measurement and discarded after the
measurement. Polymer solution viscosities were measured using the Anton-Paar Modular Compact Rheometer 300 at a
temperature of 25°C, which was controlled by a TC20 Temperature Controlling Unit. Measurements were performed at a
shear rate interval of 0.01 s-1 to 1000 s-1. In this paper, the viscosities are compared at a shear rate of 5.68 s-1 to determine the
stability of the polymer. This shear rate was chosen from the logarithmic series of measurement points, because it is close to
the expected shear rate in a typical carbonate reservoir (as calculated with the modified Blake Kozeny capillary bundle
equation (Sorbie, 1991)).

2.3. Polymer static adsorption tests

To measure the polymer static adsorption, carbonate reservoir core material with a permeability of about 5-10 mD was crushed
and the fraction between 0.5 mm and 1.4 mm was extracted using 14-35 mesh sieves. In a glass tube, 3 grams of crushed core
material was weighed and 6 grams of polymer solution was added in the anaerobic glove box. The polymer solution was
thoroughly mixed with the crushed core material and stored in an oxygen free environment in an oven. Six grams of polymer
solution without core material were stored in the same way, as a control sample. All samples were left in the oven for 3 days,
after which the polymer solution viscosity was measured using a Contraves (ProRheo) LS300 rheometer at a shear rate of 6 s-1.
To test the effect of pH on the polymer adsorption, the pH of the polymer solutions was adjusted by adding 0.1 M NaOH or
3% HNO3 to the solutions while measuring the pH.

3. Results and discussion

3.1. Polymer rheology
Polymer solution viscosity for a range of polymer concentrations was measured in four different brines at a shear rate of 5.68
s-1 as shown in Figure 1. The polymers containing n-VP monomer have a lower molecular weight than the pure hydrolyzed
polyacrylamide that we tested. The molecular weight of the HPAM Polymer+ is around 20 million Dalton, while the n-VP
Polymer 3 has a molecular weight between 6 and 8 MDa and n-VP Polymer 4 between 3 and 5 MDa. Due to their lower
molecular weight, the polymers containing n-VP have a lower viscosity yield than the HPAM Polymer+. However, the
effective polymer content in the HPAM Polymer+ is lower because part of the weight consists of the F3P chemicals. For all
polymers, the viscosifying strength is much higher in the desalinated AGS than in the more saline brines. For all AMPS-
containing polymers there is little difference between the rheologies in the three high saline brines. Only the HPAM Polymer+
demonstrates a strong dependence on both salinity and hardness. As expected, the viscosifying power decreases with brine
salinity, however, the effect of brine hardness is even larger. In the soft 200 g/l NaCl brine, the viscosity is higher than in the
lower saline AGS brine, which contains a significant concentration of divalent ions.
4 SPE 141497

Figure 1: Viscosity of the polymer solutions in four different brines as a function of polymer concentration
at a temperature of 25°C and a shear rate of 5.68 s-1.

The transition from a high viscosity to a lower viscosity for increasing salt concentration is due to the increased screening of
the polymer charges. If the concentration of polymer charges (cp) is much lower than the concentration of salt ions (cs), the
polymer behaves like a coil, expanded by intermolecular charges. For this regime the viscosity is expected to scale as ~cs-1/2
(proportional to the Debye screening length κ-1). For higher polymer concentrations and lower salt concentrations, the polymer
chains start to interact and overlap, giving an increase in viscosity.

To locate the transition zone, we measured the viscosity of 1000 ppm solutions of n-VP Polymer 3, n-VP Polymer 4 and
HPAM Polymer (without the protective package) in a wide range of NaCl concentrations. The solutions with 0.1, 0.0l, and
0.001 g/l were prepared by diluting a 1 g/l solution in three steps with demineralized water. The salinity of the demineralized
water was calculated from the specific resistivity, 18.2 MΩ.cm, which is equal to a conductivity of 0.055 μS/cm and a TDS of
0.0352 ppm (3.52 ⋅ 10-5 g/l). The plot of viscosity as a function of salinity is shown in Figure 2, where salinity is plotted on a
log scale. For the n-VP polymers, the transition occurs in a very narrow range from about 0.01 g/ to 1 g/l of NaCl. For the
HPAM Polymer, the viscosity decreases more gradually and the lowest value is reached around sea water salinity. Thus, in the
range for field application, the HPAM Polymer has more viscosifying power, but at the same time is also more sensitive to the
brine salinity (and probably also divalent ion concentration) than the n-VP polymers. This sensitivity results from the fact that
the HPAM Polymer has not yet fully reached the globule state due to the larger charge density on the polymer chains in the
hydrolyzed state. The polymer coil shrinks as the salinity is increased, thereby losing viscosity. The difference between the
SPE 141497 5

salinity-stable globule configuration of the n-VP polymers and the more salinity-sensitive coil configuration of the HPAM
Polymer is also reflected in the graphs in Figure 1 and probably affects the long-term stability, as will be described below.

Figure 2: Viscosity of two 1000 ppm polymer solutions as a function of the brine salinity (NaCl)
at a temperature of 25°C and a shear rate of 5.68 s-1.

3.2. Polymer viscosity as a function of temperature

For polyacrylamides, the viscosity as a function of temperature scales roughly with the viscosity of water. For example, the
water viscosity decreases by a factor of 0.375 when the temperature increases from room temperature to 50°C, likewise, the
polymer solution viscosity also decreases by a factor of 0.375. To test whether this behavior is also valid for the modified
polyacrylamides, the solutions were heated in the rheometer while measuring the viscosity at a constant shear rate. The result
for one of these tests, a 6000 ppm n-VP Polymer 3 solution in 200 g/l NaCl brine, is shown in Figure 3. The water viscosity is
plotted in the same graph (at a different scale) to demonstrate this relationship. Upon cooling down, the polymer solution
viscosity increased again, following a similar, but slightly lower curve, ending at about 75% of the original viscosity. Similar
behavior was seen for n-VP Polymer 4 in 200 g/l NaCl brine, only this polymer completely regained its original viscosity upon
cooling down.

Figure 3: Viscosity of a 6000 ppm n-VP Polymer 3 solution in 200 g/l NaCl brine as a function of temperature (red dots),
compared to the water viscosity (blue triangles, secondary y-axis).
6 SPE 141497

3.3. Effect of CO2 exposure on polymer viscosity

We have recently proposed a novel enhanced oil recovery process which requires the simultaneous injection of CO2 and
polymer for enhancing oil recovery from heterogeneous and layered carbonate reservoirs (Masalmeh, et al., 2009 and 2010).
The success of such a process is dependent on the stability of polymers in the presence of CO2. The compatibility of the ter-
polymers and CO2 was tested by saturating the polymer solutions with CO2, achieved by bubbling CO2 through the solutions
until the pH stabilized. In Figure 4(a), the effect of the CO2 saturation on both the pH and the polymer solution viscosity is
plotted for four solutions: 3000 ppm n-VP Polymer 3 in AGS, 600 ppm n-VP Polymer 3 in desalinated AGS, 3600 ppm n-VP
Polymer 4 in AGS and 600 ppm n-VP Polymer 4 in desalinated AGS. In these four solutions, no effect is seen of the pH
decrease on the viscosity. Also at other polymer concentrations of n-VP Polymer 4, as plotted in Figure 4(b), there is no effect
of the CO2-exposure on the polymer viscosity.

(a) (b)
Figure 4: (a) Effect of CO2 exposure on the pH (dotted) and the viscosity of polymer solutions (solid).
(b) Effect of 1 hour CO2 exposure on the viscosity of n-VP Polymer 3 solutions.

3.4. Polymer stability at 120°C

Polymer thermal stability was tested at 120°C over a period of 180 days for 20 different solutions. The stability of the
polymers was tested by measuring the viscosity of the solutions over time; all had an initial viscosity of 20 cP at 25°C and a
shear rate of 5.68 s-1. The results of these tests are shown in Figure 5. All the polymers are stable in the desalinated AGS brine
(plotted as the blue curves). An initial increase in viscosity, which is also observed for the polymer solutions in 200 g/l NaCl
brine and to a lesser extent for the AGS solution, is caused by the hydrolysis of the acrylamide monomers to acrylate, which
takes place roughly in the first ten days. The original acrylamide is charge neutral, while the acrylate monomer has a negative
charge, causing intra-chain repulsion and an increase in viscosity. In the absence of divalent ions (desalinated AGS and 200 g/l
NaCl brine), the viscosity can be retained, but for the other brines, the divalent ions bridge the acrylate moieties, causing a loss
of viscosity.

The pure hydrolyzed polyacrylamide and the polymer containing AMPS are both stable in desalinated AGS, however, in the
AGS brine which contains divalent ions, these polymers degrade within 14 and 30 days, respectively. Thus, the incorporation
of the AMPS monomer alone can only prolong the life of the polymer for a few days at 120°C in a brine containing a higher
salinity and divalent ions. These two polymers were not tested in the 200 g/l brine and the reservoir brine.
The series of ter-polymers shows a clear trend as a function of the n-VP concentration in the polymer. At low n-VP
concentration (5-10%), the stability in AGS and desalinated AGS is the same as for the AMPS copolymer, at increasing n-VP
concentration, the stability in all brines increases and at an n-VP concentration of 35-50%, the polymer is stable in all brines
for at least 180 days.

Since the incorporation of the n-VP monomer has an effect on the polymer cost, it is important to minimize this content for the
reservoirs where it is applied. From these measurements one can derive that at low salinities and/or at low divalent ion
concentration, the pure hydrolyzed polyacrylamide suffices, which was also found by Seright et al. (Seright, et al., 2009).
However, when the divalent ion concentration becomes higher, incorporating 35-50% n-VP monomer is the only option to
stabilize the polyacrylamide based polymer at 120°C.
SPE 141497 7

Figure 5: Viscosity of the polymer solutions in four different brines as a function of time.

3.5. Polymer adsorption

The static adsorption on crushed carbonate core material was measured to determine the effect of the n-VP monomer in the
polyacrylamide based polymer. The polymer solution was kept in contact with crushed core material for 3 days in oxygen-free
conditions at 120°C. The amount of adsorbed polymer was derived from the polymer viscosity of the fluid phase. This
viscosity was related back to a polymer concentration using the relationships derived from the rheology measurements. The
same was done for a reference sample that was treated the same way, but did not contain core material. The decrease in
polymer concentration caused by polymer adsorption was calculated by subtraction of the two values. The comparison to a
reference sample was used to make sure that the measured decrease in viscosity was only caused by the presence of core
material and not by polymer degradation. This method is not accurate enough to obtain absolute polymer adsorption values
because several processes affect the viscosity at the same time: polymer adsorption, degradation (causing a viscosity decrease),
hydrolysis (causing an initial increase in viscosity), etc. However, qualitative trends can be derived from this data.
8 SPE 141497

Polymer adsorption could not be determined for the desalinated AGS brine because the core material partly dissolved in the
brine. The dissolution caused a higher salinity and consequently a lower viscosity, which could not be distinguished from the
decrease in viscosity due to polymer adsorption. The effect of the n-VP monomer concentration was tested in AGS brine
which is shown in Figure 6(a). This graph shows that adsorption clearly decreases as a function of the n-VP monomer content.
The low adsorption for the polymer with 35-50% n-VP content is probably caused by the low charge density on this polymer.
The n-VP moiety is not charged and furthermore shields other monomers from hydrolysis. The low adsorption of the ter-
polymers can be advantageous for its application in polymer flooding of carbonate reservoirs, because this can partly balance
the higher concentration needed because of the low molecular weight.

The effect of pH on the polymer adsorption was measured in both the AGS brine and the Carbonate Reservoir brine. The
results of both tests are shown in Figure 6(b). Both curves show decreasing adsorption for increasing pH. The cause of the
decreasing adsorption is an effect of the change in effective charge of both the carbonate material and the polymers. The
carbonate reservoir surface has a positive charge at low pH values and only becomes charge neutral at a pH around 9 (Hirasaki
& Zhang, 2004). Furthermore, the polymer is negatively charged and acquires more negative charges at high pH. The
combined effect of the decreasing charge of both the polymer and the rock surface causes a lower adsorption. The fact that the
measured polymer adsorption reaches a negative value is probably due to the other processes that affect the viscosity at the
same time, as discussed above.

(a) (b)
Figure 6: (a) Decrease in polymer concentration in AGS brine due to polymer adsorption as a function of the n-VP monomer concentration
in the polymer. (b) Decrease in polymer concentration due to polymer adsorption as a function of pH.

4. Conclusions
• For polymers containing AMPS monomer, the viscosity is less salinity and hardness dependent than standard
hydrolyzed polyacrylamide.
• The ter-polymers containing AMPS and n-VP monomers have a steeply increasing viscosity below a salinity of 1 g/l
NaCl.
• The ter-polymers containing AMPS and n-VP monomers follow the viscosity-temperature relation of water.
• Incorporation of AMPS and n-VP monomers does not only make the polymers more salinity and temperature
resistant, but also increases pH resistance.
• In the absence of divalent ions, pure polyacrylamide is stable at 120°C for a prolonged time. The incorporation of the
AMPS monomer alone does not increase resistance against divalent ions at this temperature. When divalent ions are
present, the additional of 35-50% n-VP monomer can stabilize the polyacrylamide
• The adsorption of the ter-polymers is lower for higher n-VP concentration and for higher pH values.
SPE 141497 9

5. Nomenclature
AA Acrylate
AM Acrylamide
AMPS 2-Acrylamido-2-Methylpropane Sulfonate
EOR Enhanced Oil Recovery
HPAM Hydrolyzed Polyacrylamide
n-VP n-Vinyl Pyrrolidone
TDS Total Dissolved Solids

6. References
Doe, P. H., Moradi-Araghi, A., Shaw, J. E., & Stahl, G. A. (1987). Development an Evaluarion of EOR Polymers Suitable for Hostile
Environments - Part 1: Copolymers of Vinylpyrrolidone and Acrylamide. SPE Reservoir Engineering, SPE 14233 , 461-467.

Fernández, I. (2005). Evaluation of Cationic Water-Souble Polymers With Improved Thermal Stability. Paper SPE 93003 presented at the
SPE International Symposium on Oilfield Chemistry, Houston, Texas, 2-4 February 2005 .

Gaillard, N., Giovannetti, B., & Favero, C. (2010). Improved Oil Recovery using Thermally and Chemically Protected Compositions Based
on co- and ter-polymers Containing Acrylamide. Paper SPE 129756 presented at the SPE Improved Oil Recovery Symposium, Tulsa,
Oklahoma, 24-28 April 2010 .

Hirasaki, G., & Zhang, D. L. (2004). Surface Chemistry of Oil Recovery From Fractured, Oil-Wet, Carbonate Formations. SPE Journal ,
SPE88365.

Lake, L. W. (1996). Enhanced Oil Recovery. Prentice Hall.

Levitt, D. B., & Pope, G. A. (2008). Selection and Screening of Polymers of Enhanced-Oil Recovery. Paper SPE 113845 presented at the
SPE/DOE Improved Oil Recovery Symposium, Tulsa, Texas, 19-23 April 2008 .

Masalmeh, S., & Wei, L. (2009). An EOR Option for Heterogeneous Carbonate Reservoirs with. 15th European Symposium on Improved
Oil Recovery — Paris, France, 27-29 April 2009 .

Masalmeh, S., Hillgartner, H., Al Mjeni, R., & Jing, X. (2010). Simultaneous Injection of Miscible Gas and Polymer (SIMGAP) to Improve
Oil Recovery and Sweep Efficiency from Layered Carbonate Reservoirs. SPE EOR Conference at Oil & Gas West Asia, 11-13 April 2010,
Muscat, Oman , SPE129645.

Moradi-Araghi, A., Jones, W. W., & Westerman, I. J. (1987). Development an Evaluarion of EOR Polymers Suitable for Hostile
Environments: II- Copolymers of Acrylamide and Sodium AMPS. Paper SPE 16273 presented at the SPE International Symposium on
Oilfield Chemistry held in San Antonio, Texas, February 4-6, 1987 , 319-326.

Seright, R., Campbell, A., & Mozley, P. (2009). Stability of Partially hydrolyzed Polyacrylamides at Elevated Temperatures in the Absence
of Divalent Cations. Paper SPE 121460 presented at the SPE International Symposium on Oilfield Chemistry, Woodlands, Texas, 20-22
April 2009 .

Sorbie, K. (1991). Polymer - Improved Oil Recovery. Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press, Inc.