Screening Criteria

Several parameters have to be taken into account when screening the reservoirs to find the best candidate for polymer flooding. SNF engineers can screen a reservoir and develop a preliminary plan based on data submitted to us in the following form. This data form can be downloaded here.
The quality of the polymers for EOR and the range of applications have been greatly improved for the past 10 years. Nowadays, polymer flooding is a viable technology which can be implemented even with hard reservoirs conditions; products are available for temperature up to 120°C, with salty brines and low permeability (10 mD) as shown in the table below:

Range of conditions

Properties	Standard
Oil Viscosity	From 10 to 3000 cp
Temperature	up to 120°C
Permeability	10 md to 10 Darcy
Reservoirs	sandstone (preferred)
Oil gravity	>15° APl
Salinity	< 250,000 TDS
Oil saturation	>50%
Water injectvity	Good

SNF has developed a wide variety of anionic acrylamide-based polymers for EOR applications to fit the range of conditions described above.


Standard copolymers of acrylamide and acrylic acid are stable up to 75°C. Above this temperature, sulfonated monomers can be incorporated to resist higher temperatures up to 95°C.
Up to 120°C, it is necessary to change the chemistry by adding N-Vinyl-Pyrrolidone (NVP) monomers.

Screening Form