Foam sweep in fractures for enhanced oil recovery

Yan, Wei; Miller, Clarence A.; Hirasaki, George J.

doi:10.1016/j.colsurfa.2006.02.067

Cited by 129 publications

(71 citation statements)

References 16 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Foam and PEF can improve sweep efficiency over gas and chemical injections. Foam can reduce viscous fingering and gravity override during gas injection as the effective viscosity of foam is much higher than that of gas [19]. Shallow heavy oil reservoirs in Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin (WCSB), which can also be recovered by nonthermal processes, can be the potential target for foam/PEF EOR application.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Static and Dynamic Performance of Wet Foam and Polymer-Enhanced Foam in the Presence of Heavy Oil

Telmadarreie

Trivedi

2018

Colloids and Interfaces

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract:Inadequate sweep efficiency is one of the main concerns in conventional heavy oil recovery processes. Alternative processes are therefore needed to increase heavy oil sweep efficiency. Foam injection has gained interest in conventional oil recovery in recent times as it can control the mobility ratio and improve the sweep efficiency over chemical or gas flooding. However, most of the studies have focused on light crude oil. This study aims to investigate the static and dynamic performances of foam and polymer-enhanced foam (PEF) in the presence of heavy oil. Static and dynamic experiments were conducted to investigate the potential of foam and PEF for heavy oil recovery. Static analysis included foam/PEF stability, decay profile, and image analysis. A linear visual sand pack was used to visualize the performance of CO 2 foam and CO 2 PEF in porous media (dynamic experiments). Nonionic, anionic, and cationic surfactants were used as the foaming agents. Static stability results showed that the anionic surfactant generated relatively more stable foam, even in the presence of heavy oil. Slower liquid drainage and collapse rates for PEF compared to that of foam were the key observations through foam static analyses. Besides improving heavy oil recovery, the addition of polymer accelerated foam generation and propagation in porous media saturated with heavy oil. Visual analysis demonstrated more stable frontal displacement and higher sweep efficiency of PEF compared to conventional foam flooding. Unlike foam injection, lesser channeling (foam collapse) was observed during PEF injection. The results of this study will open a new insight on the potential of foam, especially polymer-enhanced foam, for oil recovery of those reservoirs with viscous oil.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Static and Dynamic Performance of Wet Foam and Polymer-Enhanced Foam in the Presence of Heavy Oil

Telmadarreie

Trivedi

2018

Colloids and Interfaces

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Foam is a proven technique for mobility control (Bernard and Holm, 1964, Holm, 1968, Lawson and Reisberg, 1980, Hirasaki and Lawson, 1985, Llave et al, 1990, Schramm, 1994, Rossen, 1996 by reducing gas mobility to improve macroscopic sweep efficiency and oil recovery. More recently, foam has been suggested to provide mobility control in fractures and systems featuring large permeability contrasts (Kovscek et al, 1995, Bertin et al, 1999, Nguyen et al, 2003, Yan et al, 2006, Fjelde et al, 2008, Li et al, 2010, Farajzadeh et al, 2010, Li et al, 2011, Buchgraber et al, 2012b, Haugen et al, 2012.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pore-level foam generation and flow for mobility control in fractured systems

Gauteplass

Chaudhary

Kovscek

et al. 2015

Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspect

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Pore-level foam generation, propagation, and sweep efficiency were visualized using a two-dimensional sandstone pore structure etched in a silicon wafer with accurate representation of grain shape, grain size and aspect ratios. In situ foam generation occurred by snap-off in the interior of the porous network (rectilinear snap-off) and at permeability discontinuities. Lamella creation by the two snap-off mechanisms identified here resulted in different foam textures. During foam injection for enhanced oil recovery, microvisual data revealed that the aqueous phase advanced as film flow along water-wet grains whereas discontinuous gas bubbles were located in the center of pores. Individual gas bubbles were mobilized by lamella displacement. Experimental results showed enhanced sweep efficiency in terms of greater pore occupancy by gas and larger contact area with displaced fluid for foam injection compared to continuous gas injection.

show abstract

“…Stabilized foams have been used for enhanced oil/gas recovery (EOR) [11][12][13][14], the remediation of non-aqueous phase liquids (NAPLs) [15][16][17], and CO 2 geological storage [18,19]. The stabilized CO 2 -water foam can be used for geological CO 2 sequestration and CO 2 -enhanced oil recovery.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hydraulic Properties of Porous Media Saturated with Nanoparticle-Stabilized Air-Water Foam

Zheng

Jang

2016

Sustainability

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract:The foam generated by the mixture of air and water has a much higher viscosity and lower mobility than those of pure water or gas that constitutes the air-water foam. The possibility of using the air-water foam as a flow barrier for the purpose of groundwater and soil remediation is explored in this paper. A nanoparticle-stabilized air-water foam was fabricated by vigorously stirring the nano-fluid in pressurized condition. The foam bubble size distribution was analyzed with a microscope. The viscosities of foams generated with the solutions with several nanoparticle concentrations were measured as a function of time. The breakthrough pressure of foam-saturated microfluidic chips and sand columns were obtained. The hydraulic conductivity of a foam-filled sand column was measured after foam breakthrough. The results show that: (1) bubble coalescence and the Ostwald ripening are believed to be the reason of bubble size distribution change; (2) the viscosity of nanoparticle-stabilized foam and the breakthrough pressures decreased with time once the foam was generated; (3) the hydraulic conductivity of the foam-filled sand column was almost two orders of magnitude lower than that of a water-saturated sand column even after the foam-breakthrough. Based on the results in this study, the nanoparticle-stabilized air-water foam could be injected into contaminated soils to generate vertical barriers for temporary hydraulic conductivity reduction.

show abstract

Foam sweep in fractures for enhanced oil recovery

Cited by 129 publications

References 16 publications

Static and Dynamic Performance of Wet Foam and Polymer-Enhanced Foam in the Presence of Heavy Oil

Static and Dynamic Performance of Wet Foam and Polymer-Enhanced Foam in the Presence of Heavy Oil

Pore-level foam generation and flow for mobility control in fractured systems

Hydraulic Properties of Porous Media Saturated with Nanoparticle-Stabilized Air-Water Foam

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About