Interfacial effects in the displacement of residual oil by foam

Abstract

Interfacial Effects in the Displacement of Residual Oil by FoamA qualitative theory is developed to explain the roles of surface tension and the two surface viscosities in the displacement of foams through porous media. There is a critical value of the surface tension above which a foam cannot be displaced under a given pressure gradient. The displacement efficiency of a foam can be raised by increasing the surface tension to only slightly less than this critical value, by increasing the viscosity of the aqueous surfactant solution from which the foam is formed and by increasing the surface viscosities. These predictions are in agreement with available experimental data.

The influence of temperature on surface and microscopic properties of surfactant solutions in relation to fluid displacement efficiency in porous media

“…A number of research papers have been published regarding the rheological and physicochemical properties of foams (Marsden and Khan, 1966;Shah et al, 1979;Holcomb, et al, 1981), the use of foam as a displacing fluid (Goktekin, 1968;Slattery, 1974Slattery, , 1979, and the use of foam as a blocking agent (O'Brien, 1967;Albrecht and Marsden, 1970). Holm (1968) reported the mechanism of gas and liquid flow through porous media in the presence of foam.…”

Viscous instabilities in flowing foams: a Cellular Potts Model approach

“…The viscous force per unit surface, averaged on the scale of a bubble, is: (1) where η is the effective viscosity and d is the diameter of the small bubbles. The large bubble induces a pressure deficit, δf = nηυ 0 du x , where n is the number of films that would be present across the large bubble in the x direction if it were filled with small bubbles.…”

Effects of Surface Viscoelasticity in the Entrapment and Displacement of Residual Oil

“…If the interfacial stress-deformation behavior of a crude oil-brine interface is representable as a Boussinesq surface fluid, the effect of the interfacial viscosities upon displacement has been demonstrated both theoretically (Slattery, 1974(Slattery, , 1979Slattery, 1982a, 1983)and experimentally (Stoodt and Slattery, 1984).In what follows, we wish to investigate the effect of surface viscoelasticity upon both the entrapment and displacement of residual oil.…”

“…The characteristic time of a simple surface fluid, which is a measure of the memory of the interface for past stress-deformation behavior, is taken to be a measure of the degree of surface viscoelasticity. The approach taken is similar to that used by Slattery (1974Slattery ( ,1979, in two prior qualitative analyses of displacement.The entrapment of residual oil in the smaller pores of an oil-wet rock would be enhanced by reducing the degree of surface viscoelasticity. We predict a similar effect during a free or forced displacement of oil by water in a water-wet structure.…”

“…The characteristic time of a simple surface fluid, which is a measure of the memory of the interface for past stress-deformation behavior, is taken to be a measure of the degree of surface viscoelasticity. The approach taken is similar to that used by Slattery (1974Slattery ( ,1979, in two prior qualitative analyses of displacement.…”