Patent ID: 7091159

Claim:
A method of stabilizing borehole formations containing reactive clays in the presence of water comprising: contacting said formation with an aqueous medium comprising a composition comprising a polymeric product selected from the group consisting of: (1) a polymer of a first monomeric component selected from the group consisting of: (a) quaternized compounds obtained by reacting compounds having the formula: wherein Z is oxygen or NH, R 1 is H or CH 3 , R 2 and R 3 are independently alkyl groups containing from 1 to 3 carbon atoms, and n is from 1 to 3, with an alkyl halide having the formula: R 4 X II wherein R 4 is an alkyl group containing from 12 to 22 carbon atoms and X is a halide ion, and (b) a mixture of the following components: a compound as described in (a) and a compound having the Formula I, (2) polymers of compounds having the Formula I which have been polymerized and then quaternized with compounds having the Formula II, (3) polymeric mixtures of (1) and (2), (4) polymers of compound (a) and a second monomeric component selected from the group consisting of (c) vinyl pyrrolidone, (d) compounds of the formula: CH 2 ═C(R 1 )—CO—Z—R 4 III and mixtures of (c) and (d), (5) polymers of a compound having Formula I and a second monomeric component consisting of compounds having Formula III, (6) polymers of compounds (c) and (d) provided that Z is NH, (7) polymeric mixtures of (1) and (4), (8) polymeric mixtures of (2) and (4), (9) polymeric mixtures of (1) and (5), and (10) polymeric mixtures of (2) and (5).