Modeling foam displacement in fractures

Pancharoen, Monrawee; Fernø, Martin A.; Kovscek, Anthony R.

doi:10.1016/j.petrol.2012.11.018

Cited by 29 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…Heterogeneous fracture networks may therefore result in poor sweep of the injected EOR fluid, and mobility control should be implemented to maximize contact. Two-phase flow within roughwalled fractures was previously investigated with Newtonian fluids (Pruess and Tsang 1990;Fourar et al 1993;Chen and Horne 2006) and non-Newtonian polymer solutions (Di Federico 1997;Auradou et al 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental Study of Foam Generation, Sweep Efficiency, and Flow in a Fracture Network

et al. 2016

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Foam generation for gas mobility reduction in porous media is a well-known method and frequently used in field applications. Application of foam in fractured reservoirs has hitherto not been widely implemented, mainly because foam generation and transport in fractured systems are not clearly understood. In this laboratory work, we experimentally evaluate foam generation in a network of fractures within fractured carbonate slabs. Foam is consistently generated by snap-off in the rough-walled, calcite fracture network during surfactant-alternating-gas (SAG) injection and coinjection of gas and surfactant solution over a range of gas fractional flows. Boundary conditions are systematically changed including gas fractional flow, total flow rate, and liquid rates. Local sweep efficiency is evaluated through visualization of the propagation front and compared for pure gas injection, SAG injection, and coinjection. Foam as a mobility-control agent resulted in significantly improved areal sweep and delayed gas breakthrough. Gas-mobility reduction factors varied from approximately 200 to more than 1,000, consistent with observations of improved areal sweep. A shear-thinning foam flow behavior was observed in the fracture networks over a range of gas fractional flows.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental Study of Foam Generation, Sweep Efficiency, and Flow in a Fracture Network

et al. 2016

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“…Similar snap-offs in idealized fractures at the transition from narrow to large aperture was reported [40], where the flow resistance increased with greater gas fractional flow and larger aperture. Similarly, flow in rough-walled fractures was previously characterized [39,41], and may be favourable for mobility in fracture networks of varying aperture [42].…”

Section: Foam Generation In Fracturesmentioning

confidence: 86%

“…This demonstrated that foam reduced gas mobility and was formed within the fracture network itself. Unlike the foam bubble shape in a porous medium, where bubble shape is governed by pore configurations [35,67], the bubbles in fractures are deformed according to interfacial tension, and the gas-liquid interfacial curvature varies according to gas fractional flow [41]. Foam coalescence in a porous medium is controlled by the 'limiting-capillary-pressure' [68] at moderate to high gas fractional flow.…”

Section: Sweep Efficiencymentioning

confidence: 99%

New Insight from Visualization of Mobility Control for Enhanced Oil Recovery Using Polymer Gels and Foams

Brattekås¹,

Fernø²

2016

Chemical Enhanced Oil Recovery (cEOR) - A Practical Overview

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Several enhanced oil recovery (EOR) methods have been designed and developed in the past decades to maintain economic production from mature reservoirs with declining production rates. This chapter discuss mitigation of poor sweep efficiency in layered or naturally fractured reservoirs. EOR methods designed for such reservoirs all aim to reduce flow through highly conductive pathways and delay early breakthrough in production wells. Two approaches within this EOR class, injection of foam and polymer, specifically aim to improve the mobility ratio between the injected EOR fluid and the reservoir crude oil. Reduction in fracture conductivity may be achieved by adding a crosslinking agent to a polymer solution to create polymer gel. This may also be combined with water or chemical chasefloods (e.g. foam) for integrated enhanced oil recovery (iEOR). Polymer gel and foam mobility control for use in fractured reservoirs are discussed in this chapter, and new knowledge from experimental work is presented. The experiments emphasized visualization and in situ imaging techniques: CT, MRI and PET. New insight to dynamic behaviour and local variations in fluid saturations during injections was achieved through the use of complementary visualization techniques.

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“…The bubble shape was polyhedral for all three fractional flows. Bubble shape in porous media (Paper 5) was dictated by pore configuration, whereas bubble shape in fractures (Paper 4) is deformed according to interfacial tension, and the gas-liquid interfacial curvature varies according to foam quality (Pancharoen et al, 2012).…”

Section: Foam Generation and Texturementioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental Study of Foam Generation, Sweep Efficiency and Flow in a Fracture Network

Fernø

Gauteplass

Pancharoen

et al. 2014

SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition

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Foam is consistently generated in situ in rough-walled, calcite fracture networks during experiments using surfactant-alternating-gas (SAG) and coinjection of gas and surfactant solution over a range of gas fractional flows. Boundary conditions are systematically changed including gas fractional flow, total flow rate, and liquid rates. Local sweep efficiency was evaluated through visualization of the propagation of the fluid front and compared for pure gas injection, SAG, and coinjection. Foam as a mobility control agent resulted in significantly improved sweep and delayed gas breakthrough. Gas mobility reduction factors varied from about 200 to more than 1000 consistent with observations of improved sweep. Shear-thinning foam-flow behavior was observed during coinjection over a range of gas fractional flow.

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Modeling foam displacement in fractures

Cited by 29 publications

References 38 publications

Experimental Study of Foam Generation, Sweep Efficiency, and Flow in a Fracture Network

Experimental Study of Foam Generation, Sweep Efficiency, and Flow in a Fracture Network

New Insight from Visualization of Mobility Control for Enhanced Oil Recovery Using Polymer Gels and Foams

Experimental Study of Foam Generation, Sweep Efficiency and Flow in a Fracture Network

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