Optimizing Small Volume DLS-Microrheology Measurements of Block Co-Polymers Used for Enhanced Oil Recovery Applications

Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) is gaining increasing attention due to the shortage of current oil resources and difficulties in finding a new oil field. With traditional methods, only about 20%-40% of oil is extracted from a newly drilled oil reservoir leaving 60%-80% oil in the reservoir. With EOR technology, an additional 20% oil can be obtained from the reservoir. The rheological properties of the EOR fluid play a critical role in the overall performance of these fluids. Microrheology, which involves tracking the motion of dispersed tracer particles of known size by Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS), is a new and emerging technique that can be utilized to further scope the rheological performance of enhanced oil recovery (EOR) fluids such as hydrolyzed polyacrylamide and xanthan gum solutions. This application note demonstrates DLS-based optical microrheology and DLS measurements to measure viscoelastic properties of a polymer, as a comparative study between PEGylated and non-PEGylated tracer particles.