Polymer Science Applied to Petroleum Production (Report‪)‬

INTRODUCTION The petroleum industry is composed of various upstream and downstream segments, from prospecting for oil to production of petrochemicals. One area of the petrochemical sector involves the production of monomers and polymers, which have applications in a wide variety of sectors, including the petroleum industry itself, which consumes a vast array of oligomer/polymer products. The polymer materials used in the oil industry can be classified into two large groups: (1) solid-state polymers, such as engineering materials, and (2) polymers in solution, employed as components of fluids or additive formulations. Engineering materials include those classified as plastics, fibers, and elastomers in general, for use on offshore platforms, construction of pipelines and floating structures, among others. In solution, polymers are added to fluids or formulations to modify their properties and are used in many oil production operations, such as drilling, cementing, completion, production itself, and treatment of oil and water. Various polymers, oligomers, and macromolecules in general have been evaluated for their efficiency in specific functions. The development of a polymer additive with specific performance generally requires synthesis, characterization, and evaluation of its properties (physical, chemical, and/or physicochemical), besides application tests.