Abstract
Nanoparticles have gained attention for increasing the stability of surfactant-based foams during CO2 foam-enhanced oil recovery (EOR) and CO2 storage. However, the behavior and displacement mechanisms of hybrid nanoparticle–surfactant foam formulations at reservoir conditions are not well understood. This work presents a pore- to core-scale characterization of hybrid nanoparticle–surfactant foaming solutions for CO2 EOR and the associated CO2 storage. The primary objective was to identify the dominant foam generation mechanisms and determine the role of nanoparticles for stabilizing CO2 foam and reducing CO2 mobility. In addition, we shed light on the influence of oil on foam generation and stability. We present pore- and core-scale experimental results, in the absence and presence of oil, comparing the hybrid foaming solution to foam stabilized by only surfactants or nanoparticles. Snap-off was identified as the primary foam generation mechanism in high-pressure micromodels with secondary foam generation by leave behind. During continuous CO2 injection, gas channels developed through the foam and the texture coarsened. In the absence of oil, including nanoparticles in the surfactant-laden foaming solutions did not result in a more stable foam or clearly affect the apparent viscosity of the foam. Foaming solutions containing only nanoparticles generated little to no foam, highlighting the dominance of surfactant as the main foam generator. In addition, foam generation and strength were not sensitive to nanoparticle concentration when used together with the selected surfactant. In experiments with oil at miscible conditions, foam was readily generated using all the tested foaming solutions. Core-scale foam-apparent viscosities with oil were nearly three times as high as experiments without oil present due to the development of stable oil/water emulsions and their combined effect with foam for reducing CO2 mobility
Highlights
An energy transition to a net-zero society is a global challenge in need of affordable, low-risk technologies
We present a pore- to core-scale characterization of hybrid nanoparticle–surfactant foam formulation for CO2 mobility control for CO2 enhanced oil recovery (EOR) and CO2 storage
CO2 injection with the three surfactant-laden foaming solutions resulted in the generation of densely distributed, finely textured foam, which significantly reduced CO2 mobility during the peak foam generation stage (5000 SF, 5000 SF + 1500 ppm nanoparticles (1500 NP) and 5000 SF + 150 NP)
Summary
An energy transition to a net-zero society is a global challenge in need of affordable, low-risk technologies. Utilization and storage (CCUS) is a crucial technology for substantial emission cuts for many energy-intensive industries to achieve the ambitious climate goals of the Paris Agreement [1]. Permanent CO2 storage coupled with CO2 EOR can provide affordable and reliable energy for our developing world while reducing the life-cycle carbon emissions of fossil fuels. Field-scale operations often report lower than expected recoveries due to poor sweep efficiency and high CO2 mobility [3,4]. These issues stem from reservoir heterogeneity and the low viscosity and density of CO2 compared to reservoir fluids
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