No description available.

As the world pushes for ‘greener’ technologies and carbon neutrality, efforts have focused on creating novel ways to mitigate humankind’s carbon footprint. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) has become a prevalent technique that has proven to be an effective long-term method to safely relocate excess carbon dioxide (CO2) into subsurface formations. However, CCS is a newer technique which requires constant monitoring due to potential leakage pathways present in CO2 storage sites; therefore, a preventive approach to seal leakage pathways is recommended. This dissertation explores the potential of CO2-sensitive polyacrylamide (CO2-SPAM) as a novel sealing agent for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) and CCS applications. This manuscript explores the strength and weaknesses of various CO2-triggered chemicals and selects the appropriate fit for subsurface in-situ sealing. Relevant literature shows that CO2-SPAM can significantly reduce permeability in porous media. Additionally, organically cross-linked polyacrylamide-based gels, of which CO2-SPAM is one, are thermally stable, resistant to low pH levels, highly injectable, and widely used in various industrial processes. These characteristics make CO2-SPAM a suitable candidate for in-situ sealing. Further studies were performed to comprehend the chemical mechanism, rheological behavior, and injection effects of CO2-SPAM into subsurface formations. Firstly, past literature knowledge and organic chemistry principals were used to develop the complete chemical breakdown of CO2-SPAM gel’s synthesis. Secondly, the effect of salt and polyacrylamide (PAM) concentrations on gelation time, gel strength and viscosity were tested through qualitative (Sydansk gel strength coding system) and quantitative methods (rheometer measurement). The results showed that high salinities increase gelation time and decrease gel strength and viscosity, while high PAM concentrations do the opposite. Lastly, the effects on geomechanical stresses caused by CO2-SPAM injection into the subsurface are also addressed by using the image well method for pore pressure estimation, and frictional faulting theory. The final results determined that the injection of aqueous CO2-SPAM would induce seismicity in normal faulting zones dipping at a large array of angles in the plane of failure. These findings are significant as they determine the potential of induced seismicity in the area of CCS, which in this case was the Raton basin.

Konsistensen på en gel bestående av tvärbunden hyaluronsyra beror av tre faktorer: total koncentration hyaluronsyra, gelningsgrad och tvärbindningsdensitet. För att utföra detta projekt erhölls tre olika geler med olika tvärbindningsdensitet. Dessa geler späddes dels med lösning av fri, icke tvärbunden, HA från 100 % gelningsgrad till 90 % och 80 %. De olika gelningsgraderna späddes också med natriumkloridlösning från den totala koncentrationen HA, 35 mg HA/g gel, till 25 mg/g och 15 mg/g. Projekts huvudfråga är att kartlägga gelens reologiska egenkaper då både total koncentration HA och gelningsgrad varieras. För att kunna kartlägga detta har en reometer brukats där följande tre tester körts: tidssvep, frekvenssvep och amplitudsvep. Från erhållen data har sedan två parametrar som representerar gelkompositionernas viskösa egenskaper (G'') och elastiska egenskaper (G') observerats. Även mätning av extruderingskraft har genomförts för att dra vidare paralleller och slutsatser mellan extruderingskraften och de reoligiska egenskaperna. Ur resultaten ses att förlusttangenten tenderar att sjunka när gelningsgraden ökar, d.v.s. gelerna blir då mer viskösa och mindre elastiska. Förlusttangenten sjunker även vid ökande total koncentration HA vilket betyder att G’ ökar mer än G’’ i vardera punkt som gör att förlusttangenten minskar.Det gick även att avläsa att de viskösa egenskaperna i gelen ökar då total koncentration hyaluronsyra minskar samt att de viskösa egenskaperna i gelerna minskar vid en sjunkande gelningsgrad. Mellan gelningsgrad 90-100 % och total koncentration HA 25-35 mg HA/g har analyserna som gjorts i detta projekt gett följande slutsatser. Konsistensen på gel A och C är mer påverkade av gelningsgraden än total koncentration HA. För gel B kan ingen dominerande parameter utläsas. / The softness of a gel made of crosslinked HA (HA = hyaluronic acid) depends onthree factors. One is the amount of free hyaluronic acid in the gel. Another is thedensity of the crosslinked network, which is the molecular entanglements in the gel.The third is the total concentration of HA. In this project a rheometer is used to measure the rheological properties by runningthe following tests: time sweep, frequency sweep and amplitude sweep. From theobtained data, parameters related to viscous properties (G’’) and elastic properties(G’) of the gels were observed. 27 different compositions of gels with three differentconcentrations (35 mg HA/g, 25 mg HA/g, 15 mg HA/g), three different gel contents(100%, 90%, 80%) and three different densities of crosslinked network (A, B, C) wereanalyzed. To draw further conclusions an analysis of extrusion force was performedas well. The results from the frequency sweeps show that the loss tangent for a gel increasedas the total concentration of HA was reduced and that the loss tangent for a gelincreased as the gel content was decreased. This indicates that the gels become moreviscous when either the concentration of HA or the gel content was decreased. Anincrease in concentration of HA results in an increase of G' and an increase of gelcontent also results in an increase of G'. The results from the amplitude sweeps showthat xG' (xG' = storage modulus at the crossover point between G' and G'') increasesas either the concentration of HA or the gel content is increased. For xStrain (xStrain= deformation of the gel at the crossover point) and xStress (xStress = the stressapplied to the gel at the crossover point) no clear trend can be seen regarding the gelcontent. But an increase in concentration of HA results in an increase of both xStrainand xStress. The results from the analysis of extrusion force show that an increase intotal concentration HA increases the force.