Enhanced foam stability by adding comb polymer gel for in-depth profile control in high temperature reservoirs

Abstract

Abstract A long-term stability of gel enhanced foam as an in-depth profile control agent in high temperature reservoirs was successfully prepared by adding comb polymer gel. The increased viscosity of gel brings a negative effect on surface tension which reduces the gel enhanced foam volume. In turn, the increased viscosity could enhance the thickness and strength of foam film which increases foam stability and plugging capacity in porous media. The morphology results show that the gel enhanced foam has a thicker bubble film which enhances its foam stability. The effect of injection mode, gas–liquid ratio, gas injection velocity and formation permeability on the plugging capacity was investigated by single sand-pack experiments. When the gas–liquid ratio and gas injection velocity were respectively set at 1:1 and 0.5 ml/min, co-injection of gel enhanced foaming solution and gas could obtain a better plugging capacity in high permeability sand-packs. Parallel sand-pack experiments show that the profile improvement capacity of high formation permeability ratio is much better than that of low formation permeability ratio. The visual simulation experiment was also conducted to illustrate the flowing behavior of gel enhanced foam. By Jiamin effect or Jamin superimposed effect, directly plugging and bridging in the large pore space, the gel enhanced foam can effectively reduce the permeability of porous media in high permeability zones and divert fluid into low permeability zones, thus increases the swept volume. The treatment has been successfully used in Henan oilfield of China which provides a reference to water production control in other similar high temperature oilfields.