PAM technology also has an irreplaceable position in oilfield industries ensuring increased efficiency together with the best possible environmental outcome.
PAM technology allows viscosity control, fluid loss prevention and the optimization of the stability and rheology of the drilling fluid during the drilling process.
PAM technology is used in Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) in established mature oilfields, where water is injected into the oil reservoir to displace the in-situ oil. This process is not particularly efficient as water can bypass the oil without displacing it, and usually only up to 20 % of the original oil in place (OOIP) is recovered. Polymer flooding is one EOR technique which allows the recovery of an additional 15-20 % of the OOIP. Incorporation of high molecular weight anionic PAM into the water increases its viscosity, thereby displacing the oil more efficiently.
In some oilfield reservoirs injected water will track through channels without displacing significant amounts of oil. PAM technology addresses this problem by adsorbing in the channels thus causing resistance to further water flow (conformance control).
High molecular weight PAMs allow to significantly enhance oil recovery.
Hydraulic fracturing, also known as “fracking” is a technology to extract shale gas and oil. One of the challenges for efficient fracking is to reduce friction during the injection of the fracking fluids. High molecular weight PAMs are efficient friction reducers.
