Stable aqueous foams containing Nanoparticle-enhanced wormlike micelles as the fracturing fluids

Abstract

The petroleum industry makes extensive use of aqueous foams; however, their efficacy is constrained considerably by their long-term stability. Polymers are frequently utilized to stabilize the foam stability, but potential formation damages by blocking pores cannot be ignored. In this work, wormlike micelles are employed as an alternative to traditional polymer, while cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) are added to improve the viscoelasticity under higher temperatures. Our results confirm that CNCs-enhanced viscoelastic micellar dispersions could indeed generate the super-stable foam, which mainly contributed to their synergistic effects in the bulk rheology and interfacial properties of the continuous phase. In accordance with the long-term stability, our foams also exhibit a great sand-carrying capability, i.e., the foam containing 0.5% CNCs was able to retain the sands for over 10 h without visible settlements. Our findings advance the strategies of foam stabilization and provide a strong complement to the subsurface application of aqueous foam.