(28e) Effect of Normal Alkanes in the Solubility and CO2 Thickening Effect of Poly-1-Decene Olygomer for IOR Application

Supercritical CO₂ (scCO₂) thickening is the most powerful approach to enable mobility control to increase sweep efficiency in improved oil recovery (IOR) processes As a consequence CO₂ can be stored in the subsurface in large quantities . Hydrocarbons in CO₂-rich phase may affect the performance of oligomers in CO₂ thickening for improved oil recovery (IOR). Hydrocarbons may also decrease the solubility of oligomers/polymers in CO₂. The 1-decene (P1D) oligomer with 20 repeat units shows excellent viscosification at high pressures and different temperature conditions. It is potentially an effective candidate for CO₂-IOR. In this report, a systematic study is presented on the solubility, and viscosification of CO₂ by P1D in the presence of n-hexane (nC₆), n-decane (nC₁₀), n-dodecane (nC₁₂) and n-hexadecane (C₁₆). Viscosity decreases as the concentration of hydrocarbon increases. The decrease is gradual and mild at concentrations of nC₆ and nC₁₀ below 15 mol% in CO₂. P1D seems to be less affected by the presence of lighter hydrocarbons which would make it an effective candidate for IOR processes.