Further Insights into the Performance of Silylated Polyacrylamide-Based Relative Permeability Modifiers in Carbonate Reservoirs and Influencing Factors

[Image: see text] We have previously used surface chemistry analysis techniques to optimize the functionalization of carbonate rocks with a silylated polyacrylamide-based relative permeability modifier (RPM). The RPM is expected to selectively reduce the permeability to water in a hydrocarbon reservoir setting, resulting in a reduction in the amount of produced water while maintaining the production of oil/gas. This study will focus on using core flooding techniques with brine/crude oil under reservoir conditions (i.e., 1500 psi pore pressure and 60 °C temperature) to understand the impact of a silylated polyacrylamide-based RPM on the fluid transport properties in carbonate rocks. The effects of RPM concentration, brine salinity, rock permeability, and pore structure on permeability characteristics were studied. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) combined with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDX) provided visual images of the polymer adsorbed onto the rock surfaces and confirmed the attachment of the polymer on the surface of the rock pore space after treatment. The relative percentage of Si increased from 1.65 to 13.55%, and the relative percentage of N increased to 4.54%. Core flooding showed that increasing the PAM-co-AA (poly acrylamide-co-acrylic acid partial sodium salt) concentration resulted in residual resistance factors for oil (RRF(oil)) and brine (RRF(brine)) that were greater than 1. However, there was a modest decrease in the disproportionate permeability reduction (DRP) ratio (RRF(brine)/RRF(oil)) from 1.75 to 1.60 when the polymer concentration was increased from 0.05 to 0.1 wt %. Furthermore, the RRF(brine) values decreased slightly from 120 to 62 with increasing salinity (i.e., 1–10% NaCl) because of electrostatic shielding caused by charged ions in brine and the RPM. The cross-over points of relative permeability in these four samples shifted to the right because of the larger decrease in relative water permeability compared with relative oil permeability. End-point relative permeability to water in sample C-5 decreased by 80%, showing a reduction greater than that in the sample C-2 (i.e., 74%). Kr curves indicated a stronger formation damage in sample C-1, C-2, and C-4 than in sample C-5. Rock samples with a higher initial permeability exhibited a higher RRF(brine) to RRF(oil) ratio (i.e., 3.05) under similar test conditions. This can be attributed to a larger pore radius, which was verified by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) measurements. Furthermore, a detailed mechanism has been proposed to understand the effects of the RPM on fluid transport in porous carbonate cores. In this study, SEM–EDX and NMR measurements combined with core flooding tests provide insights into the performance of silylated polyacrylamide-based RPMs and benefit its future implementation in carbonate reservoirs.