Polymerization Dynamics of Zwitterionic Monomers with Polyacrylamide for Enhanced Oil Recovery
Abstract
In this paper the synthesis of zwitterionic copolymers for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) were studied in detail. The copolymers were synthesized via free-radical copolymerization. Different molar ratios (2:98, 10:90, 20:80, 30:70) of zwitterionic sulfobetaine-N-(3-dimethylamino)propyl methacrylamide (P(SB-DMAPMA)) copolymerized with acrylamide (AM). Resulted copolymers characterized with NMR and FTIR. Molecular weight of copolymers was measured with Static Light Scattering method. Reactivity ratios of the monomers were calculated using three methods: Fineman-Ross, Kelen-Tudos, and Mayo-Lewis. Study also discussed the thermal stability zwitterionic copolymers, rheological properties in pure water and in high-salinity conditions with different charges. Increased viscosity after adding different salts were analyzed by rheological measurements and the images of structures of molecules were taken by Transmission Electronic Microscope (TEM). The findings of this study can be useful to enhance the efficiency of Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) processes, paving the way for more advanced oil recovery techniques.