Foam Flow Behaviour in Porous Media in Relation to Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR)

Abstract

Several foam properties in relation to enhanced oil recovery by foam flooding are presented in order to understand the mechanism of fluid/oil displacement in porous media. The fluid displacement experiments were conducted under different conditions of gas injections and types of the porous media. It was observed that the breakthrough time and fluid displacement efficiency were increased with increasing surfactant concentration. At low surfactant concentration, the effective gas mobility was high, and decreased with increasing concentration. Foams were effective in reducing the gas mobility in the porous media. For high fluid displacement, the effective gas mobility should be minimal. As the permeability increased, the flow of foam through porous media also increased. The breakthrough time and fluid displacement efficiency were correlated with slug size. Results indicated that the breakthrough time (BT) and fluid displacement efficiency (FDE) or fluid recovery (FR) were increased with increasing slug size. Upon increasing temperature, the surface tension and bubble size decreased which, increased the fluid displacement efficiency. The effective gas mobility in the presence of a surfactant solution decreased with increasing temperature. The effect of applied pressure on breakthrough time and fluid displacement showed a gradual decrease in fluid displacement efficiency/oil recovery with increased applied pressure in the absence of foam. An increase in the fluid/oil displacement efficiency was observed at low pressures and in the presence of foam. In the presence of foam, the breakthrough time and fluid recovery were increased. Fluid/oil displacement efficiency increased with increasing oil viscosity. More viscous oils were recovered in lower amount compared to the less viscous oils in the presence of foam.