High temperature ultralow water content carbon dioxide-in-water foam stabilized with viscoelastic zwitterionic surfactants

Abstract

Ultralow water content carbon dioxide-in-water (C/W) foams with gas phase volume fractions (ϕ) above 0.95 (that is <0.05 water) tend to be inherently unstable given that the large capillary pressures that cause the lamellar films to thin. Herein, we demonstrate that these C/W foams may be stabilized with viscoelastic aqueous phases formed with a single zwitterionic surfactant at a concentration of only 1% (w/v) in DI water and over a wide range of salinity. Moreover, they are stable with a foam quality ϕ up to 0.98 even for temperatures up to 120°C. The properties of aqueous viscoelastic solutions and foams containing these solutions are examined for a series of zwitterionic amidopropylcarbobetaines, R-ONHCHN(CH)CHCO, where R is varied from C (coco) to C (oleyl) to C (erucyl). For the surfactants with long C and C tails, the relaxation times from complex rheology indicate the presence of viscoelastic wormlike micelles over a wide range in salinity and pH, given the high surfactant packing fraction. The apparent viscosities of these ultralow water content foams reached more than 120cP with stabilities more than 30-fold over those for foams formed with the non-viscoelastic C surfactant. At 90°C, the foam morphology was composed of ∼35μm diameter bubbles with a polyhedral texture. The apparent foam viscosity typically increased with ϕ and then dropped at ϕ values higher than 0.95-0.98. The Ostwald ripening rate was slower for foams with viscoelastic versus non-viscoelastic lamellae as shown by optical microscopy, as a consequence of slower lamellar drainage rates. The ability to achieve high stabilities for ultralow water content C/W foams over a wide temperature range is of interest in various technologies including polymer and materials science, CO enhanced oil recovery, CO sequestration (by greater control of the CO flow patterns), and possibly even hydraulic fracturing with minimal use of water to reduce the requirements for wastewater disposal.

Tuning Nanoparticle Surface Chemistry and Interfacial Properties for Highly Stable Nitrogen-In-Brine Foams

“…The stabilization is also favored by maintaining sufficiently thick lamellae upon slowing down lamellae drainage to the plateau borders . An emerging understanding of foam stability in terms of interfacial properties is of great value for foam design in a wide variety of applications, including mobility control for the flow of gases in enhanced oil recovery in subsurface reservoirs. − …”

Synthesis, surface activities, and aggregation behavior of phenyl-containing carboxybetaine surfactants

“…1,2 As an important type of zwitterionic surfactant, betaines have a hydrophilic headgroup comprised of a quaternary ammonium group and an anionic group such as carboxylate, sulfonate, sulfate, or phosphate. 3 Betaine-type surfactants possess distinctive physicochemical properties such as high foam stability, skin and eye compatibility, high efficiency in lowering surface tension, and low toxicity, 4 leading to a wide range of applications in enhanced oil recovery, [5][6][7] detergents, 8,9 cosmetics 2,10 and textile production. 11 As the geometry of betaine-type surfactants has a signicant effect on their physicochemical properties, considerable efforts have been devoted to their structural optimization.…”

A review of development methods and EOR technologies for carbonate reservoirs

“…Xue et al (2015) reported a high-viscosity foam produced by using CO 2 soluble ionic surfactants at a temperature of 120 °C and a saltwater TDS content of 14.6%. Recently, Alzobaidi et al (2017) reported the use of zwitterionic surfactants to prepare highly stable foams with a viscosity in excess of 100 cP at 120 °C.…”