AbstractExperimental results on pressure losses of flows of dilute polymer solutions through porous media are summarized. The polymer products employed in this study consisted of partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamides (HPAM) with different degrees of hydrolysis. The effect of the hydrolysis on the pressure drop is investigated in a porous media test section designed to minimize polymer degradation. The investigations were carried out for various solvent conditions, and it is shown that the maximum increase in pressure drop is mainly dependent on the molecular weight of the polymers. The onset of the polymer action is measured for various fluid and solvent properties. Particular attention is given to measurements near θ‐conditions. The results stress the importance of the solvent properties on the actions of the polymers and on the resultant pressure drop for porous media flows. The addition of salt ions to solutions of partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamides yields onset behavior previously observed for nonionic polymers. The differences measured between various solvent properties can be explained by the actual hydrodynamic molecule dimensions for a given molecular weight and polymer concentration. To quantify the influences of the solvent properties on the polymers, measurements were carried out in aqueous solutions for various pH values and therefore at various degrees of dissociation. The importance of separating polymer effects caused by their linear dimension in the solution from those that are introduced by and increase in solvent viscosity is shown. Measurements were performed to quantify the effects of solvent viscosity on the polymer action and to separate these effects from those due to changes in molecule dimensions. The implications of the present results are stressed in connection with applications of polymer solutions in tertiary oil recovery, and the positive features of the molecule actions on flow in such applications are describ
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