CO2 Foam With Surfactants Used Below Their Critical Micelle Concentrations

Kuhlman, Myron; Falls, A.M.; Hara, Shiro; Monger-McClure, T.G.; Borchardt, John K.

doi:10.2118/20192-pa

Cited by 43 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…The surfactant transport in the Bentheimer for given conditions (pH 3, 0.0375 w/w% AOS in double distilled water with pH 3) shows time-dependent adsorption. As observed in the literature, for example, by Kuhlman et al (1992), AOS does not show a Langmuir isotherm and a certain delay in its propagation through the Bentheimer is observed.…”

Section: Pore Volumes Of Gas and Aos Injected (Pv)supporting

confidence: 54%

Foam Flow Experiments. I. Estimation of the Bubble generation-Coalescence Function

Thorat

Bruining

2016

Transp Porous Med

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Gas injection leads to foam formation in porous media in the presence of surfactant solutions, which is used for flow diversion and enhanced oil recovery. We present here laboratory experiments of co-injecting nitrogen and sodium C 14−16 alpha olefin sulfonate with two concentrations: 20× the critical micelle concentration (CMC) in an unconsolidated sandpack of 1860 Darcy and at the CMC for a Bentheimer sandstone of 3 Darcy. The steady state profile for the unconsolidated sandpack is achieved after 1.3 pore volumes, whereas for Bentheimer sandstone, steady state is obtained after injection of 12-15 pore volume. A model that leads to four equations, viz., a pressure equation, a water saturation equation, a bubble density equation and a surfactant transport-adsorption equation, is used to explain the experimental pressure drop. It is asserted that the experimental pressure drop across the measurement points can be used to obtain a first estimate of the average bubble density, which can be further used to obtain part of the source term in the bubble density equation. If we consider flowing fraction of foam, the rate of change of bubble density during transient state can be equated to the bubble density generation-coalescence function plus the terms accounted for bubble transport by convection and diffusion divided by porosity and saturation.

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Section: Pore Volumes Of Gas and Aos Injected (Pv)supporting

confidence: 54%

Foam Flow Experiments. I. Estimation of the Bubble generation-Coalescence Function

Thorat

Bruining

2016

Transp Porous Med

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“…Surfactant molecule consisted of two different parts: a hydrophilic head and a hydrophobic tail. The hydrophilic head was a polar group with affinity for water but the hydrophobic tail preferred non-polar media such as oil and gas (Kuhlman et al 1992;Karin and Idar 2001). Therefore, surfactant molecules tended to adsorb at the interface between polar and non-polar phases to result in the reduction of the interfacial tension.…”

Section: The Optimization Of Foaming Agentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At low concentration, all the rest of the surfactant molecules were dissolved in the solution as individual surfactant monomers. Above a particular concentration, some of the surfactant molecules aggregated together to form called micelles (Kuhlman et al 1992). In water, the hydrophobic tails formed the interior of the micelle.…”

Section: The Optimization Of Foaming Agentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, a number of investigations reported effective gas mobility reduction at very low surfactant concentrations and, in some cases, below the CMC (Kuhlman et al 1992;Karin and Idar 2001). Lee and Heller (1990) reported that foams could improve sweep efficiency of fluid injection due to their resistance characteristics and their inherent capability of providing greater flow resistance in high-permeability porous media than in low-permeability media.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Blocking Ability and Flowing Characteristics of Steady Foams in Porous Media

Pang

2010

Transp Porous Med

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Foam flow experiments were carried out to study the influence factors such as surfactant concentration, foam quality, injection rate of liquid and gas, permeability of porous media, temperature, and oil saturation on blocking ability and flowing characteristics of steady foams in porous media. Foam blocking mechanisms and flowing characteristics were summarized according to the experimental results and foam migration behavior. The results showed that the pressure distribution of flowing foams was linearly descending in porous media at steady state. The results further showed that the foam size and quality in pores along the sand pack were almost uniform, that is, foam generation and destruction gradually reached dynamic equilibrium at steady state. In porous media, the blocking ability of steady foams increased with the concentration of the foaming agent and the increase in the permeability of porous media, but the blocking ability decreased with the increase in the temperature, the shearing rate, and the oil saturation of the porous media. Foam resistance factor reached maximal value at the foam quality of 85% in porous media. List of symbols CMC Critical micelle concentration of surfactant in solution, wt% AOSAlpha olefin sulfonate, which is a kind of surfactant BS-12 Dodecyl dimethyl betaine, which is a kind of surfactant SDS Sodium dodecyl sulfate, which is a kind of surfactant V fm Foaming volume of foaming agent, ml

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“…A number of laboratory studies find that CO 2 foams have greater mobility that N 2 foams -in the jargon of foam EOR, the CO 2 foams are "weaker" (Kuhlman, 1990;Chou, 1991;Kibodeaux, 1997;Farajzadeh et al, 2009) A direct, conclusive comparison is difficult, because a surfactant optimized for one gas may not be optimal for another. If CO 2 foams are inherently weaker, then this could mean that the bubbles are larger, though part of the difference could reflect smaller surface tension of CO 2 against surfactant solution (Rossen, 1996;Chaubert et al, 2012), and the consequent reduced capillary resistance to flow.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A 2D Model for the Effect of Gas Diffusion on Mobility of Foam for EOR

Nonnekes¹,

Cox²,

Rossen³

2012

ECMOR XIII - 13th European Conference on the Mathematics of Oil Recovery

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SUMMARYTransport of gas across liquid films between bubbles is cited as one reason why CO2 foams for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) are usually weaker than N2 foams and why steam foams are weaker than foams of steam mixed with N2.We examine here the effect of inter-bubble gas diffusion on flowing bubbles in a simplified model of a porous medium (a periodically constricted tube in 2D) and in particular its effect on the bubble-size distribution and capillary resistance to flow. Bubbles somewhat smaller than a pore disappear by diffusion as the bubbles move. For bubbles larger than a pore, as expected in EOR, diffusion does not affect bubble size. Instead, diffusion actually increases capillary resistance to flow (i.e. makes foam stronger): lamellae spend more time in positions where lamella curvature resists movement. When fit to pressures and diffusion and convection rates representative of field application of foams, diffusion is not expected to alter the bubble-size distribution in a foam, but instead modestly increases the resistance to flow. The reason for the apparent weakness of CO2 foam therefore evidently lies in factors other than CO2's large diffusion rate through foam.

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CO2 Foam With Surfactants Used Below Their Critical Micelle Concentrations

Cited by 43 publications

References 11 publications

Foam Flow Experiments. I. Estimation of the Bubble generation-Coalescence Function

Foam Flow Experiments. I. Estimation of the Bubble generation-Coalescence Function

The Blocking Ability and Flowing Characteristics of Steady Foams in Porous Media

A 2D Model for the Effect of Gas Diffusion on Mobility of Foam for EOR

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