Synthesis and characterization of a novel high temperature resistant hydrophobic associative polymer for hydraulic fracturing

Abstract

Hydraulic fracturing is a critical process in oil and gas extraction, particularly in high-temperature deep and ultra-deep reservoirs where traditional polymers like partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (HPAM) fail due to poor heat resistance. This study introduces a novel hydrophobic associative water-soluble polymer (HAWSP), AASN, designed to overcome HPAM’s limitations. AASN is synthesized by copolymerizing a specially designed two-tailed hydrophobic monomer (C₈NC₁₂AM) with acrylamide, acrylic acid, and 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropanesulfonic acid (AMPS), producing a polymer with excellent viscosity and thermal stability. Its unique structure, based on hydrophobic interactions among two-tailed monomers, forms a robust viscoelastic network in solution. This network is highly effective in transporting proppant during fracturing operations without the need for additional cross-linking agents, simplifying field application and reducing potential formation damage due to residue. Rheological tests show AASN maintains high viscosity and strong shear resistance at temperatures up to 140 °C. The study also examines its gel-breaking performance with different concentrations of ammonium persulfate, demonstrating easy degradation and low environmental impact after fracturing. The development of AASN significa cantly improves the performance of fracturing fluids and marks an important advancement in oilfiel eld polymer technology. It offers a promising, heat-resistant alternative to current solutions, potentially transforming high-temperature hydraulic fracturing practices.

Keywords

Hydrophobic associative water-soluble polymers / Fracturing fluid / High temperature / Rheological properties / Low formation damage

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Yongqiang Ren: Writing-original draft, Methodology, Conceptualization. Chen Wang: Validation, Supervision, Project administration, Funding acquisition. Dong Yang: Visualization, Resources, Investigation. Wei Zhang: Visualization, Resources, Investigation. Shuangyue Kou: Validation, Supervision. Jinhua Mao: Writing-original draft. Qinghe Zhang: Methodology, Data curation. Yang Zhang: Investigation. Jincheng Mao: Methodology. Chong Lin: Validation. Xiaojiang Yang: Conceptualization.

Declaration of competing interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influe uence the work reported in this paper.

Acknowledgements

The research is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 52104035), National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41902303), Sichuan Innovation Team Project (2022JDTD0010), Sichuan Province Regional Innovation Cooperation Project (2020YFQ0031) and China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2022M712646).

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