Experimental Study of Hysteresis behavior of Foam Generation in Porous Media.

Foam can be used for gas mobility control in different subsurface applications. The success of foam-injection process depends on foam-generation and propagation rate inside the porous medium. In some cases, foam properties depend on the history of the flow or concentration of the surfactant, i.e., the hysteresis effect. Foam may show hysteresis behavior by exhibiting multiple states at the same injection conditions, where coarse-textured foam is converted into strong foam with fine texture at a critical injection velocity or pressure gradient. This study aims to investigate the effects of injection velocity and surfactant concentration on foam generation and hysteresis behavior as a function of foam quality. We find that the transition from coarse-foam to strong-foam (i.e., the minimum pressure gradient for foam generation) is almost independent of flowrate, surfactant concentration, and foam quality. Moreover, the hysteresis behavior in foam generation occurs only at high-quality regimes and when the pressure gradient is below a certain value regardless of the total flow rate and surfactant concentration. We also observe that the rheological behavior of foam is strongly dependent on liquid velocity.

Cation Exchange in the Presence of Oil in Porous Media.

Cation exchange is an interfacial process during which cations on a clay surface are replaced by other cations. This study investigates the effect of oil type and composition on cation exchange on rock surfaces, relevant for a variety of oil-recovery processes. We perform experiments in which brine with a different composition than that of the in situ brine is injected into cores with and without remaining oil saturation. The cation-exchange capacity (CEC) of the rocks was calculated using PHREEQC software (coupled to a multipurpose transport simulator) with the ionic composition of the effluent histories as input parameters. We observe that in the presence of crude oil, ion exchange is a kinetically controlled process and its rate depends on residence time of the oil in the pore, the temperature, and kinetic rate of adsorption of the polar groups on the rock surface. The cation-exchange process occurs in two stages during two phase flow in porous media. Initially, the charged sites of the internal surface of the clays establish a new equilibrium by exchanging cations with the aqueous phase. At later stages, the components of the aqueous and oleic phases compete for the charged sites on the external surface or edges of the clays. When there is sufficient time for crude oil to interact with the rock (i.e., when the core is aged with crude oil), a fraction of the charged sites are neutralized by the charged components stemming from crude oil. Moreover, the positively charged calcite and dolomite surfaces (at the prevailing pH environment of our experiments) are covered with the negatively charged components of the crude oil and therefore less mineral dissolution takes place when oil is present in porous media.

Effect of Foam on Liquid Phase Mobility in Porous Media.

We investigate the validity of the assumption that foam in porous media reduces the mobility of gas phase only and does not impact the liquid-phase mobility. The foam is generated by simultaneous injection of nitrogen gas and a surfactant solution into sandstone cores and its strength is varied by changing surfactant type and concentration. We find, indeed, that the effect of foam on liquid-phase mobility is not pronounced and can be ignored. Our new experimental results and analyses resolve apparent discrepancies in the literature. Previously, some researchers erroneously applied relative permeability relationships measured at small to moderate capillary numbers to foam floods at large capillary number. Our results indicate that the water relative permeability in the absence of surfactant should be measured with the capillary pressure ranging up to values reached during the foam floods. This requires conducting a steady-state gas/water core flood with capillary numbers similar to that of foam floods or measuring the water relative-permeability curve using a centrifuge.

Foam-oil interaction in porous media: implications for foam assisted enhanced oil recovery.

The efficiency of a foam displacement process in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) depends largely on the stability of foam films in the presence of oil. Experimental studies have demonstrated the detrimental impact of oil on foam stability. This paper reviews the mechanisms and theories (disjoining pressure, coalescence and drainage, entering and spreading of oil, oil emulsification, pinch-off, etc.) suggested in the literature to explain the impact of oil on foam stability in the bulk and porous media. Moreover, we describe the existing approaches to foam modeling in porous media and the ways these models describe the oil effect on foam propagation in porous media. Further, we present various ideas on an improvement of foam stability and longevity in the presence of oil. The outstanding questions regarding foam-oil interactions and modeling of these interactions are pointed out.

Effect of gas type on foam film permeability and its implications for foam flow in porous media.

The aim of this paper is to provide a perspective on the effect of gas type on the permeability of foam films stabilized by different types of surfactant and to present a critical overview of the tracer gas experiments, which is the common approach to determine the trapped fraction of foam in porous media. In these experiments some part of the gas is replaced by a "tracer gas" during the steady-state stage of the experiments and trapped fraction of foam is determined by fitting the effluent data to a capacitance mass-transfer model. We present the experimental results on the measurement of the gas permeability of foam films stabilized with five surfactants (non-ionic, anionic and cationic) and different salt concentrations. The salt concentrations assure formation of either common black (CBF) or Newton black films (NBF). The experiments are performed with different single gasses. The permeability of the CBF is in general higher than that of the NBF. This behavior is explained by the higher density of the surfactant molecules in the NBF compared to that of CBF. It is also observed that the permeability coefficient, K(cm/s), of CBF and NBF for non-ionic and cationic surfactants are similar and K is insensitive to film thickness. Compared to anionic surfactants, the films made by the non-ionic surfactant have much lower permeability while the films made by the cationic surfactant have larger permeability. This conclusion is valid for all gasses. For all types of surfactant the gas permeability of foam film is largely dependent on the dissolution of gas in the surfactant solution and increases with increasing gas solubility in the bulk liquid. The measured values of K are consistent with rapid diffusion of tracer gasses through trapped gas adjacent to flowing gas in porous media, and difficulties in interpreting the results of tracer-foam experiments with conventional capacitance models. The implications of the results for foam flow in porous media and factors leading to difficulties in the modeling of trapped fraction of foam are discussed in detail. To avoid complications in the interpretation of the results, the best tracer would be one with a permeability close to the permeability of the gas in the foam. This puts a lower limit on the effective diffusion coefficient for tracer in an experiment.

Gas permeability of foam films stabilized by an alpha-olefin sulfonate surfactant.

The gas permeability of equilibrium foam films stabilized with an alpha-olefin sulfonate surfactant was measured. The permeability coefficient, K (cm/s), was obtained as a function of the electrolyte (NaCl) concentration, surfactant concentration, and temperature. The addition of salt to the film-forming solution leads to a decrease of the film thickness, which was complemented by an increase of K up to a certain value. Above that critical salt concentration, the gas permeability decreases even though the film thickness also decreases. We explain this effect as a result of interplay of the film thickness and the adsorption monolayer permeability for the permeability of the whole film, i.e., the thermodynamic state of the film. The classical theories that explain the process were applied. The gas permeability of the film showed an unexpected increase at surfactant concentrations well above the critical micelle concentration. The origin of this effect remains unclear and requires further studies to be clarified. The experiments at different temperatures allowed the energy barrier of the permeability process to be estimated.

Foam film permeability: theory and experiment.

The mass transfer of gas through foam films is a prototype of various industrial and biological processes. The aim of this paper is to give a perspective and critical overview of studies carried out to date on the mass transfer of gas through foam films. Contemporary experimental data are summarized, and a comprehensive overview of the theoretical models used to explain the observed effects is given. A detailed description of the processes that occur when a gas molecule passes through each layer that forms a foam film is shown. The permeability of the film-building surfactant monolayers plays an important role for the whole permeability process. It can be successfully described by the models used to explain the permeability of surfactant monolayers on aqueous sub-phase. For this reason, the present paper briefly discusses the surfactant-induced resistance to mass transfer of gases through gas-liquid interface. One part of the paper discusses the experimental and theoretical aspects of the foam film permeability in a train of foam films in a matrix or a cylinder. This special case is important to explain the gas transfer in porous media or in foams. Finally, this paper will highlight the gaps and challenges and sketch possible directions for future research.