BLOCK COPOLYMERS FOR RECOVERING HYDROCARBON FLUIDS FROM A SUBTERRANEAN RESERVOIR

• Main Authors: JOYCE, WILLIAM H, CHANG, KIN-TAI, KURIAN, PIOUS
• Format: Patent
• Language: English; French
• Published: 29.10.2009
• Subjects: ADHESIVES; AFTER-TREATMENT NOT COVERED BY SUBCLASSES C08B, C08C, C08F,C08G; CHEMISTRY; COMPOSITIONS BASED THEREON; COMPOSITIONS OF MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS; DYES; EARTH DRILLING; EARTH DRILLING, e.g. DEEP DRILLING; FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS; GENERAL PROCESSES OF COMPOUNDING; MATERIALS FOR MISCELLANEOUS APPLICATIONS, NOT PROVIDED FORELSEWHERE; METALLURGY; MINING; MISCELLANEOUS APPLICATIONS OF MATERIALS; MISCELLANEOUS COMPOSITIONS; NATURAL RESINS; OBTAINING OIL, GAS, WATER, SOLUBLE OR MELTABLE MATERIALS OR ASLURRY OF MINERALS FROM WELLS; ORGANIC MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS; PAINTS; POLISHES; THEIR PREPARATION OR CHEMICAL WORKING-UP; USE OF INORGANIC OR NON-MACROMOLECULAR ORGANIC SUBSTANCES ASCOMPOUNDING INGREDIENTS; WORKING-UP

The present disclosure is directed to compositions and methods that may be used for enhanced oil recovery, for modifying the permeability of subterranean formations and for increasing the mobilization and/or recovery rate of hydrocarbon fluids present in the formations. The compositions may include, for example, expandable cross-linked polymeric microparticles having unexpanded volume average particle size diameters of from about 0.05 to about 5,000 microns and cross linking agent contents of from about 100 to about 200,000 ppm of labile cross linkers and from 0 to about 300 ppm of non-labile cross linkers, wherein the expandable polymeric monomers have a block copolymer structure comprising at least two different monomers having different chemical structures.