**2. Problem definition**

The uses of polyacrylamide have been extended to different applications in the oil industry, such as water conformance, fracking, and enhanced oil recovery (EOR) processes.

In EOR applications, acrylamide (AAm) polymers are dispersed in water to increase their viscosity. However, at high temperatures the viscosity of AAm polymer decreases due to hydrolysis [11]. This can be mitigated by using co-monomers such as sodium 2-acrylamido-2 methylpropane sulfonate (AMPSNa) [12]. This sodium sulfonate monomer is well known because it confers stability to the polymer against divalent cations and high temperatures (above 90°C). In view of the benefits, it is necessary to develop a process for the synthesis of the AAm-AMPSNa copolymer that guarantees product quality and synthesis reproducibility in order to properly design the polymer. The next sections will be focused on studying the relation between the mixing time and the mixing process during the synthesis of copolymer in a batch reactor.
