Polyacrylamide is the unified name for the polymers of acrylamide homopolymers and other monomers. PAM is one of the most widely used water-soluble polymers. PAM is widely used in oil exploration, paper, water treatment, textile, medicine, agriculture and other industries. According to statistics, 37% of the total global output of PAM is used for wastewater treatment, 27% for oil industry and 18% for paper industry .
1. Water treatment
The application of PAM in water treatment industry mainly includes: raw water treatment, sewage treatment and industrial water treatment. In the original water treatment, PAM, used together with activated carbon, can be used to unite and clarify particles suspended in drinking water. In wastewater treatment, PAM can be used for sludge dewatering. In industrial water treatment, PAM is mainly used as a pharmaceutical formulation. In the original water treatment, replace inorganic flocculants with organic flocculants PAM, water purification ability can be increased by 20 %. So now in many cities, when water supply is limited or water quality is poor, PAM will be used as a supplement. PAM’s effect on industrial wastewater treatment, especially for neutral or alkaline sewage water with coarse, high concentration suspended particles, wastewater from steel plant and electroplating factory, metallurgy wastewater and coal washing waste water, is the best. In sewage treatment , the use of PAM can increase the utilization rate of water reuse cycles .
2. Oil Exploration field
In oil mining industry, PAM is mainly used for drilling mud materials and for improving oil recovery rate and widely used in well drilling, completion, cementing , fracturing, enhanced oil recovery and other mining operations of oil field. PAM is with the functions of increasing viscosity, decreasing fluid loss, flow variable adjustment, gelling, diversion and profile control. At present, China has entered the middle and last period of oil exploration. In order to improve oil recovery, China mainly promote polymer flooding and ASP flooding technology. By injecting PAM solution to improve oil flow rate ratio, the oil content in recovery will be increased. At present, the application of PAM in oil fields in foreign countries is not much.
