The application of nanocomposites based on polyacrylamide hydrogels as well as silica nanoparticles in various tasks related to the petroleum industry has been rapidly developing in the last 10–15 years. Analysis of the literature has shown that the introduction of nanoparticles into hydrogels significantly increases their structural and mechanical characteristics and improves their thermal stability. Nanocomposites based on hydrogels are used in different technological processes of oil production: for conformance control, water shutoff in production wells, and well killing with loss circulation control. In all these processes, hydrogels crosslinked with different crosslinkers are used, with the addition of different amounts of nanoparticles. The highest nanoparticle content, from 5 to 9 wt%, was observed in hydrogels for well killing. This is explained by the fact that the volumes of injection of block packs are counted only in tens of cubic meters, and for the sake of trouble-free workover, it is very important to preserve the structural and mechanical properties of block packs during the entire repair of the well. For water shutoff, the volumes of nanocomposite injection, depending on the well design, are from 50 to 150 m³. For conformance control, it is required to inject from one to several thousand cubic meters of hydrogel with nanoparticles. Naturally, for such operations, service companies try to select compositions with the minimum required nanoparticle content, which would ensure injection efficiency but at the same time would not lose economic attractiveness. The aim of the present work is to develop formulations of nanocomposites with increased structural and mechanical characteristics based on hydrogels made of partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide crosslinked with resorcinol and paraform, with the addition of commercially available nanosilica, as well as to study their thermal degradation, which is necessary to predict the lifetime of gel shields in reservoir conditions. Hydrogels with additives of pyrogenic (HCSIL200, HCSIL300, RX380) and hydrated (white carbon black grades: ‘BS-50’, ‘BS-120 NU’, ‘BS-120 U’) nanosilica have been studied. The best samples in terms of their structural and mechanical properties have been established: nanocomposites with HCSIL200, HCSIL300, and BS-120 NU. The addition of hydrophilic nanosilica HCSIL200 in the amount of 0.4 wt% to a hydrogel consisting of partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (1%), resorcinol (0.04%), and paraform (0.09%) increased its elastic modulus by almost two times and its USS by almost three times. The thermal degradation of hydrogels was studied at 140 °C, and the experimental time was converted to the exposure time at 80 °C using Van’t Hoff’s rule. It was found that the nanocomposite with HCSIL200 retains its properties at a satisfactory level for 19 months. Filtration studies on water-saturated fractured reservoir models showed that the residual resistance factor and selectivity of the effect of nanocomposites with HCSIL200 on fractures are very high (226.4 and 91.6 for fracture with an opening of 0.05 cm and 11.0 for porous medium with a permeability of 332.3 mD). The selectivity of the isolating action on fractured intervals of the porous formation was noted.

The challenge of water shutoff in carbonate reservoirs is complicated by the presence of fractures, which cannot be effectively blocked using conventional hydrogel screens designed for granular reservoirs. To reliably seal fractures, fibrous and dispersed fillers are added to hydrogels. These fillers must exhibit affinity for the matrix to ensure the composites can effectively isolate water. Given the wide variability in fracture apertures, it is evident that water shutoff composites should incorporate fibers and dispersed fillers of varying geometric sizes. This study presents a range of hydrogel composites reinforced with mono-, bi-, and tri-component fibers, as well as dispersed fillers, designed for water shutoff in fractured carbonate reservoirs with varying fracture apertures. Oscillation test results demonstrated a twofold increase in the elastic modulus (40–45 Pa) for compositions with various fillers compared to the base composition (23 Pa). Filtration studies revealed the effectiveness of the optimized compositions under different fracture apertures. Specifically, even at a fracture aperture of 650 μm, the residual resistance factor (RRF) reached 82.3 and 9.76 at water flow rates of 0.1 cm³/min and 0.5 cm³/min, respectively. The conducted rheological and filtration tests, along with field trials, confirmed the validity of the selected approach.

Well-killing operations in water-sensitive hydrophilic formations are often complicated by extended well clean-up periods and, in some cases, failure to restore the well’s production potential post-kill. Typical development targets exhibiting these properties include the Neocomian and Jurassic deposits of fields in Western Siberia and Western Kazakhstan. This paper proposes a well-killing method incorporating simultaneous near-wellbore treatment. In cases where heavy oil components (asphaltenes, resins, or paraffins) are deposited in the near-wellbore zone, their removal with a solvent results in post-operation flow rates that exceed pre-restoration levels. For wells not affected by asphaltene, resin, and paraffin deposits, killing is performed using a blocking pill of invert emulsion stabilized with an emulsifier and hydrophobic nanosilica. During filtration into the formation, this emulsion does not break but rather reforms according to the pore throat sizes. Flow rates in such wells typically match pre-restoration levels. The described engineering solution proves less effective when the well fluid water cut exceeds 60%. For wells exhibiting premature water breakthrough that have not yet produced their estimated oil volume, the water source is identified, and water shutoff operations are conducted. This involves polymer-gel systems crosslinked with resorcinol and paraform, reinforced with inorganic components such as chrysotile microdispersions, micro- and nanodispersions of shungite mineral, and gas black. Oscillation testing identified the optimal additive concentration range of 0.6–0.7 wt%, resulting in a complex modulus increase of up to 25.7%. The most effective polymer-inorganic composite developed by us, incorporating gas black, demonstrates high water shutoff capability (residual resistance factor ranges from 12.5 to 65.0 units within the permeability interval of 151.7 to 10.5 mD). Furthermore, the developed composites exhibit the ability to selectively reduce water permeability disproportionately more than oil permeability. Filtration tests confirmed that the residual permeability to oil after placing the blocking composition with graphene is 6.75 times higher than that to water. Consequently, such treatments reduce the well water cut. Field trials confirmed the effectiveness of the developed polymer-inorganic composite systems.

Polyacrylamide and polyacrylamide/polysaccharide hydrogels exhibiting high structural and mechanical properties, along with acceptable gelation times and gelant viscosity, are proposed for water shutoff applications in high-temperature reservoirs. The obtained polyacrylamide gels demonstrate an elastic modulus 1.6–2.7 times higher than that of the baseline polyacrylamide–resorcinol–paraform–sulfamic acid gel (17.2 Pa), reaching up to 46.3 Pa, while the polyacrylamide/polysaccharide gels surpass it by a factor of 2.3–5.2, reaching up to 89.9 Pa. The gelation time of the polyacrylamide/polysaccharide gels ranges from 3 to 7 h, with the gelant viscosity varying from 685 to 2098 mPa·s at a shear rate of 100 s⁻¹. Crosslinking of polyacrylamide with polysaccharides was achieved using paraform. Using the gel based on crosslinked polyacrylamide with xanthan as an example, spectral methods characterized the copolymer constituting the basis of the plugging material. Our analysis established that crosslinking occurs between the amide group of polyacrylamide and the hydroxyl group of the polysaccharide. Model reactions with low-molecular-weight analogs (glucose, acetamide, and formaldehyde), coupled with mass spectrometric confirmation of the structure of the resulting products, revealed possible reaction pathways. The crosslinking of polyacrylamide was investigated using a broad range of polysaccharides of plant and microbiological origin. The resulting series of hydrogels, possessing the suite of properties required for water shutoff in high-temperature formations, will enable oil companies (operators) and service firms to select a specific gel-forming system based on project objectives, logistics, and budget constraints.

To improve the efficiency of injecting intensifying chemical slugs into injection wells, new formulations have been proposed. These compositions are based on high-tonnage surfactants combined with industrially produced nanoparticles. Experiments show that adding silica- or carbon-based nanoparticles to surfactant compositions doubles the oil displacement coefficient from Pashian sandstones. Carbon nanoparticles derived from shungite mineral were also tested. Regardless of nanoparticle type, a specific surfactant composition was highly effective. This composition contains anionic and nonionic surfactants in a 1:2 ratio at a 1% concentration in fresh water, with a 1% nanoparticle additive. It increases the oil displacement coefficient by 19.0-23.2% after waterflooding. It has been established that in the proposed technology for near-wellbore formation treatment, the role of nanoparticles lies in a transport function due to the formation of nanoparticle aggregates with surfactant micelles, representing dynamic structures sized 25-75 μm. These aggregates break apart when passing through narrow pore throats. This delivers surfactants directly to the oil-rock interface, mobilizing residual oil and improving displacement. Nanoparticles of silica with different wettability, during filtration, are deposited in pore channels, leading to intra-pore flow redistribution. Together with the increased microscopic sweep efficiency from surfactants, it results in lower residual oil saturation.

To maintain reservoir pressure above the saturation pressure of oil with gas and effectively displace oil from the reservoir, flooding remains an established operating practice in the fields of the Russian Federation. In recent years, theoretical and practical research into this method of operation has been actively developing. Thus, the low efficiency of oil displacement by flooding has been established in conditions of low oil mobility compared to water, which is especially evident in heterogeneous reservoirs. The highest reduction in the efficiency of the process of replacing oil with water is observed during the development of highly viscous oil fields. For these difficult conditions, polymer flooding technology is especially promising, because the polymer, thickening the water, increases its viscosity, increasing the displacing ability of water. However, for the practical application of polymer flooding, it is necessary to optimize the process by justifying technological parameters (polymer concentration, injection rate) to achieve maximum efficiency. For this purpose, the paper presents a methodological approach based on the use of a nature-inspired optimization algorithm ‒ a flock of migratory birds, used to solve a number of practical nonlinear optimization problems. Keywords: flooding; polymer compositions; mathematical modeling; optimization objective function; nature-inspired algorithms; migrating bird algorithm; net present value.