Effect of Salts, Alkali, and Temperature on the Properties of Sodium Oleate Hydrogel.

A detailed study has been done on the rheological properties of sodium oleate based hydrogels that are developed in the presence of organic and inorganic salts. Shear stability of the NaOL gels were found to be a strong function of the salt, alkali, and the fabrication conditions. The addition of alkali to NaOL/KCl hydrogel enhanced the viscoelastic properties, which were observed from static and dynamic rheological tests. The hydrogel is miscible with hydrocarbon and can act as a clean gel during a postfracturing job. The quantitative estimation of migration of NaOL to microemulsion medium during gel break test can be done by Sudan dye solubilization and Methylene blue complexation methods, and the results show that the addition of both KCl and NaOH favors NaOL micelle growth and its partitioning tendency toward the hydrocarbon phase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]