Polymer flooding is an appropriate enhanced oil recovery (EOR) process that can increase macroscopic sweep efficiency. We examined two polymeric superpushers at different salinities (10,000 and 42,000 ppm of NaCl and 18,000 ppm of CaCl2) and temperatures (30 to 75 °C) as polymer-flooding agents for the EOR process. Rheological and thixotropic tests were attempted to find shear viscosity change when the polymer solutions were introduced under different salinity and temperatures, followed by describing the rheological behavior with the two most common rheological models used for polymer solutions, and then a quadratic model with Design-Expert to detect the effective parameters. Core flooding tests were conducted afterward to determine the final proposed fluid. An increase in the concentration of monovalent ions and the addition of divalent ions adversely affected both types of polymers used, which was similar to the effects of a temperature increase. The Flopaam 3630S at 1000 ppm has more stability under harsh conditions and enables 22% and 38% oil recovery in carbonate and sandstone core rocks, respectively. Consequently, Flopaam 3630S can be the perfect polymer agent for different chemical flooding procedures in high-salinity oil reservoirs.
Keywords: enhanced oil recovery; polymer flooding; rheology; thixotropic properties.