Rapid Rheogram Prediction for Mechanically Degraded Hydrolyzed Polyacrylamide Solutions via Standard Viscosity Measurements

Abstract

Reliable models predicting polymer solution rheology are crucial for chemical enhanced oil recovery (EOR). A primary challenge in polymer flooding is assessing mechanical degradation, which reduces oil recovery efficiency due to rheological changes. By measuring viscosity at 7.3 s−1 for both undegraded and degraded solutions, we derive expressions for the degraded volume fraction and Carreau-Yasuda model coefficients. This enables modeling rheological curves from 0.001 to 1,000 s−1 for both solution types. Comparison of model results with experimental and literature data shows satisfactory agreement. The model achieves a mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) below 10% for rheological curve estimation using standard field instruments, streamlining on-site decision-making.