Studies of Environmental Stress Cracking of High Density Polyethylene Liner in Alkaline Surfactant Polymer Enhanced Oil Recovery Floods

Alkali surfactant polymer (ASP) flooding is an enhanced oil recovery (EOR) process that is used to increase the amount of crude oil that can be extracted from conventional oil reservoirs. With the increasing use of high density polyethylene (HDPE) pipes in EOR process, environmental stress cracking (ESC) poses a threat to the integrity of the pipe in ASP floods. In this research, the ESC behaviour of HDPE pipes was studied in ASP floods under conditions that simulated the EOR reality. Particularly, tensile tests were conducted on three types of materials, i.e., HDPE4710, HDPE3608 and polyethylene 100+ (PE100+), which have been soaked in ASP under various pressures and temperatures. Results demonstrate that HDPE can experience degradation upon ASP soaking, resulting in a reduction of elongation of the material, especially at elevated temperatures. Moreover, HDPE 4710 is more resistant to ASP soaking in terms of the stress-strain behavior, while 3608 is least resistant to ASP soaking. The resistance of HDPE to ESC was also investigated on pre-cracked specimen in ASP flood with various concentrations. Various analysis techniques, including differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), were used to characterize their ESC behaviour mechanistically. It was found that ASP floods concentration, applied stress level, ambient temperature and the mechanical characteristics of various HDPEs affects the ESC behaviour on the HDPEs. Furthermore, the water permeation property of HDPE 3608 was investigated by determining the water vapour transmission (WVT) rate at various temperatures and the specimen thicknesses. A model was developed to illustrate the parametric effects on the water permeating rate. It was found that WVT is quadratic function of ambient temperature and power function of film thickness. As a result of combination of three parameters, it can be found that ambient temperature is quadratic function to WVT and thickness is quadratic coefficient of temperature term. The modeling results are validated by the experimental data.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science (MSc)

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Graduate Studies

Year dc:date.issued

2013

Author dc:creator

• Li, Zhong

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Frank(Yufeng), Cheng

• Materials Science

Statement dc:rights

• University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.

Language dc:language.iso

eng

DOI

http://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/27913

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:ucalgary.scholaris.ca:11023/1215