The Effect of Wettability and Pore Geometry on Foamed Gel Blockage Performance in Gas and Water Producing Zones

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Proposal Throughout the lifetime of oil producing wells, a common problem encountered is excessive gas and/or water production. High producing gas-oil or water-oil ratio is normally responsible for both rapid productivity decline, and increase in operating costs caused by gas or water processing. The result is often a premature shut-in of wells because production has become uneconomical. Foamed gels have been used as selective barriers to counteract disproportionate gas-oil and/or water-oil ratios in oil production. However, knowledge of the effects of critical parameters such as wettability of the porous medium and pore geometry on foamed gel-blockage performance remains incomplete. In this work micro-scale experiments, which involve the microscopic observation of flowing and trapped foamed gel in etched-glass micromodels were performed. The purpose of the research work is to provide new insights into the sensitivity of foamed gel blockage to porous media wettability and pore geometry. The experimental results indicated that foamed gels present higher blocking efficiency in oil-wet systems than in water-wet systems. Under experimental conditions, foamed gels exhibit higher blocking efficiency at lower pore body to pore throat aspect ratios. The plugging treatment exhibits stability after subsequent steps of gas and brine injection. Ultimately, the combination of foam and gel has both technical and economic advantages that make foamed gels superior mobility control agents.