Three-Phase Fractional Flow Analysis for Foam-Assisted Non-aqueous Phase Liquid (NAPL) Remediation

Abstract

Among numerous foam applications in a wide range of disciplines, foam flow in porous media has been spotlighted for improved/enhanced oil recovery processes and shallow subsurface in situ NAPL (non-aqueous phase liquid) remediation, where foams can reduce the mobility of gas phase by increasing effective gas viscosity and improve sweep efficiency by mitigating subsurface heterogeneity. This study investigates how foams interact with and displace oleic contaminants in remediation treatments by using MoC (Method of Characteristics)-based three-phase fractional flow theory. Six different scenarios are considered such as different levels of foam strength (i.e., gas mobility reduction factors), different initial conditions (i.e., initially oil/water or oil/water/gas present), foam stability affected by water saturation $$({S}_{\mathrm{w}})$$ and oil saturation $$({S}_{\mathrm{o}})$$ , and uniform versus non-uniform initial saturations. The process is analyzed by using ternary diagrams, fractional flow curves, effluent histories, saturation profiles, time–distance diagrams, and pressure and recovery histories. The results show that the three-phase fractional flow analysis presented in this study is robust enough to analyze foam–oil displacements in various conditions, as validated by an in-house numerical simulator built in this study. The use of numerical simulation seems crucial when the foam process becomes very complicated and faces multiple possible solutions.