High molar mass polymers are used in Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) Technology to increase the yield of oil fi elds. One of the common EOR techniques is polymer fl ooding. Polymer fl ooding is performed by mixing long chain polymer molecules with the injected water in order to increase the water viscosity. This method improves the vertical and areal sweep effi ciency as a consequence of the improved water/oil mobility ratio [1-3].
The molar mass distribution is a critical parameter that needs to be optimized in order to improve the properties and usability of high molar mass polymers for EOR appliactions. The most common and best known technique for polymer characterization is Gel Permeation Chromatography often referred to as Size Exclusion Chromatography (SEC) [4]. However, these EOR polymers are too large to be accurately characterized with SEC. Field-Flow Fractionation (FFF) is the only separation technology that is able to separate and characterize these ultra-high molar mass polymers.
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