Modified polysaccharides for use in enhanced oil recovery applications

Aqueous solutions of a charged hydrophobically modified hydroxyethylcellulose (HM-HEC(−)) exhibit high viscosities even at low polymer concentrations (0.2 wt%), which is an interesting feature in connection with enhanced oil recovery. This polymer was synthesized for this work. Effects of temperature and addition of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) or hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HP-β-CD) on the viscosity properties of a semidilute solution of HM-HEC(−) are examined. The results for the HM-HEC(−)/SDS system disclose strong interactions between HM-HEC(−) and SDS at low level of SDS addition, and this leads to a significant viscosification of the polymer–surfactant mixture. At higher surfactant concentrations the association complexes are disrupted. A strong temperature effect of the viscosity is observed at moderate levels of SDS addition, with lower values of the viscosity at elevated temperatures because of enhanced polymer chain mobility that breaks up the associations. Addition of HP-β-CD monomers to the HM-HEC(−) solution generates decoupling of associations via inclusion complex formation with the polymer hydrophobic tails and the viscosity decreases. By using temperature and addition of these co-solutes, it is demonstrated that the viscosity of the polymer solution can be tuned over a large range of viscosity values.