Abstract
Foam flooding is an effective method for enhancing oil recovery in high water-cut reservoirs and unconventional reservoirs. It is a dynamic process that includes foam generation and coalescence when foam flows through porous media. In this study, a foam flooding simulation model was established based on the population balance model. The stabilizing effect of the polymer and the coalescence characteristics when foam encounters oil were considered. The numerical simulation model was fitted and verified through a one-dimensional displacement experiment. The pressure difference across the sand pack in single foam flooding and polymer-enhanced foam flooding both agree well with the simulation results. Based on the numerical simulation, the foam distribution characteristics in different cases were studied. The results show that there are three zones during foam flooding: the foam growth zone, stable zone, and decay zone. These characteristics are mainly influenced by the adsorption of surfactant, the gas–liquid ratio, the injection rate, and the injection scheme. The oil recovery of polymer-enhanced foam flooding is estimated to be 5.85% more than that of single foam flooding. Moreover, the growth zone and decay zone in three dimensions are considerably wider than in the one-dimensional model. In addition, the slug volume influences the oil recovery the most in the foam enhanced foam flooding, followed by the oil viscosity and gas-liquid ratio. The established model can describe the dynamic change process of foam, and can thus track the foam distribution underground and aid in optimization of the injection strategies during foam flooding.
Highlights
Foam flooding has been an effective enhanced oil recovery (EOR) method for oil and gas development, especially in reservoirs that are difficult to exploit, such as high water-cut reservoirs, fault block reservoirs, low-permeability reservoirs (Cai et al, 2019; Zhao and Du, 2020), and heavy oil reservoirs (Hirasaki et al, 2011)
The foam generation/coalescence rate can be controlled by the surfactant concentration and the foam fraction in the gas phase
A foam flooding simulation model was established based on the population balance model
Summary
Foam flooding has been an effective enhanced oil recovery (EOR) method for oil and gas development, especially in reservoirs that are difficult to exploit, such as high water-cut reservoirs, fault block reservoirs, low-permeability reservoirs (Cai et al, 2019; Zhao and Du, 2020), and heavy oil reservoirs (Hirasaki et al, 2011). For the experiment without the polymer (single foam flooding), nitrogen and foamer solution were co-injected continuously into the core at a specified gas and liquid rate.
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