Mechanical stability high molecular weight synthetic polymers

The mechanical stability of polymers was related to the polymer s conformation in some of the earlier drag-reduction studies. Above a critical stress, degradation was faster the more contracted and entangled the polymer s conformation (5-7). In petroleum applications the mechanical instability of synthetic relative to carbohydrate polymers was well-recognized. The relative stability problems (possibly related to DUEVs (8)) encountered in the use of high molecular weight hydrolyzed poly(acrylamide) (HPAM) led to the development of an inverse-emulsion polymerization technique (9). (Current research directions using this technique are discussed in Chapter 9.)... 

Considerable research has been conducted to identify water soluble polymers which can efficiently control the flow properties of displacement fluids for enhanced oil recovery.Two main types of polymeric viscosifiers have emerged from this research which rely mainly on ultra high molecular weight for thickening efficiency natural biopolymers such as Xanthan or Scleroglucain and synthetic acrylamide based polymers. Although these polymers possess many useful characteristics, the reservoir conditions in which they can provide adequate mobility control are limited. For example, the biopolymers provide excellent mechanical stability and salt tolerance, however, further improvement in high temperature stability would be desirable. 

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