E O R / I O R

CO2-FOAM FLOODS:
FOAM PROPERTIES AND
MOBILITY-REDUCTION EFFECTIVENESS
CO2 foam has been used as an effective system, the CO2 tank and sapphire-tube and 1.4 wt% CaCl2. Different concentra-
mobility-reducing agent for CO2 flooding high-pressure cell, is contained in a tem- tions of the surfactant solution were pre-
in the oil-recovery process. Recent research perature-controlled water bath. The buffer- pared by diluting the batch solution with
indicates that some CO2 foams can provide solution cylinder and the pump are the 7 wt% brine. All screening tests were
selective mobility reduction (SMR). SMR in installed outside of the water bath, and conducted at 77°F and 2,000 psig.
foams reduces CO2 mobility by more in their temperatures are maintained at the By measuring the time required to form a
higher- than in lower-permeability cores in same temperature as the water bath by a bubble at the needle in the sapphire tube
laboratory experiments. Unlike Darcy flow separate temperature-control system. and the number of bubbles formed within a
of ordinary fluids in rocks, where the During operation, the sapphire visual cell certain time period, the average volume
mobility is proportional to rock permeabil- is first filled with the solution to be tested. and radius of each bubble is calculated.
ity, the mobility of foam with SMR is less Once the system reaches the desired pres- Once the average radius of dense CO2 is
than proportional to core permeability and sure, the dense CO2 is introduced through a known, the IFT between surfactant solu-
foam flows through higher-permeability needle at the lower end of the cell. The CO2 tion and dense CO2 can be calculated.
rocks at a lower rate than would be expect- is drawn upward inside the cell. The densi-
ed for the existing pressure gradient. This ty difference between dense CO2 and the Results and Discussion. The IFT decreas-
allows foam to flow at the same velocity in tested solution causes CO2 bubbles to form es with surfactant concentration and levels
high- and low-permeability regions in the and collect at the upper end of the cell. off at a region where the IFT no longer
reservoir, preserving the uniformity of the These bubbles will either form a layer of decreases as surfactant concentration
flood front while propagating through foam-like dispersion at the top of the sap- increases. The concentration at which the
rocks with nonuniform permeability. Use of phire tube or coalesce into a clear layer of interfacial properties between surfactant
a CO2 foam with SMR delays CO2 break- dense CO2, depending on the effectiveness and CO2 show no significant change is the
through and provides a high displacement of the surfactant. After 1.75 cm3 of CO2 has CMC and can be graphically determined.
efficiency in heterogeneous reservoirs. been introduced into the sapphire tube, the The IFT curves and CMC values vary with
pump is stopped and the length of time that surfactant formula. The CMC values for
FOAM-DURABILITY TEST the formed foam persists is measured. Surfactants 1 through 5 are 0.04, 0.06, 0.07,
For this study a high-pressure foam-dura- Surfactant solutions (1 wt% active compo- 0.07, and 0.35 wt %, respectively.
bility test apparatus was constructed and nent) were prepared by dissolving the sur- The foaming ability of a surfactant is
screening tests were conducted successfully factant as received from the suppliers into a defined as the ease with which a bubble is
to select surfactants for field foam applica- brine system consisting of 5.6 wt% NaCl formed at the needle when the surfactant
tion. The test determined the foaming abil-
ity of each surfactant, the stability of foam,
and surfactant properties, such as the inter-
facial tension (IFT) between a surfactant
and dense CO2 and the critical micelle con-
centration (CMC) of a surfactant. The
foam-durability apparatus comprises a CO2
source tank, a visual cell made from a trans-
parent sapphire tube, a buffer-solution
cylinder, and a pump. The major part of the

This article is a synopsis of paper SPE

• JANUARY 1998 69
 E O R / I O R

solution contacts the CO2. Durability is steady state, pressure drops in each segment to a more uniform displacement front when
defined as the persistence of foam bubbles of the core are recorded as functions of time. the fluid is flowing through heterogeneous
after a standard volume of CO2 has been The mobility of injected fluid, defined as the porous media. In general, the value of the
introduced. A cathetometer is used to mea- ratio of Darcy or superficial velocity of the slope decreases when surfactant is added to
sure the foam height and the weight of the fluid to the average pressure gradient along the brine as a foaming agent. This suggests
CO2 to allow calculation of the percentage each segment of core, is calculated and com- that foam is useful in correcting the nonuni-
of foam inside the sapphire tube and assess- pared for different injection conditions. form flow of CO2 and brine in a porous sys-
ment of the persistence of foam. Foam was The foam generator and core sample are tem containing differing permeabilities. At
found to form more easily as the surfactant preflushed with synthetic brine for at least 40 lower velocities, the value of the slope
concentration increases. The foaming abili- pore volumes (PV) before the brine perme- decreases, indicating a more favorable SMR
ty of surfactant increases as the IFT between ability measurements are begun. The hetero- occurs at a lower displacement rate.
CO2 and the surfactant solution decreases. geneity of the series composite core was When results from the foam-durability
The longest-lasting foams were not neces- determined by measuring the brine perme- tests are compared with the mobility tests,
sarily found at the best foaming conditions. abilities for four different sections along the the stability of foam in the bulk phase can
For Surfactant 4 (Fig. 1), there is an opti- core. Following the permeability measure- be correlated with the effectiveness of
mum concentration (0.075 wt%) at which ments, dense CO2 and brine were injected mobility reduction of flowing foam in the
the foam has the best stability or the longest simultaneously into the core sample. The porous media. The mobility reduction is
durability. The persistence of foam decreas- mobility of the two-phase mixture was mea- enhanced as foam stability increases. The
es at concentrations either above or below sured for each core section and used as a ref- mobility-reduction factor (MRF), defined as
this optimum concentration. This trend was erence for later comparison. After establish- the ratio of total mobility of CO2/brine to
observed with Surfactant 1, with an opti- ing the baseline, a sequence of foam experi- foam mobility, increases with the foam life.
mum concentration of 0.05 wt%. In both ments was performed. To satisfy the adsorp- When foams become more stable, more
cases, the optimum concentration is close to tion requirement, 50 PV of surfactant solu- resistance to flow results in a higher mobili-
the surfactant’s CMC (i.e., 0.07 for tion was displaced. Then CO2 and surfactant ty reduction. On the basis of these observa-
Surfactant 4 and 0.04 for Surfactant 1). The solution were injected into the core until tions, the capability of surfactant in stabiliz-
bubbles formed by Surfactants 5 and 2 coa- steady-state conditions were reached. Foam ing the bubble file or lamellae in the porous
lesced in less than 1 minute, whereas most mobility was measured. The ratio of volu- media is believed to be the most likely rea-
of the bubbles formed by Surfactant 3 lasted metric flow rate of CO2 to aqueous phase was son for the effectiveness of foam in reducing
longer than 90 minutes. The optimum con- maintained at four to one. The total injection the mobility of CO2.
centration for generating the longest-lasting rate was varied from 5.0 to 15.0 cm3/hr cor- Use of a proper CO2 foam could minimize
foams were not identified for Surfactants 5, responding to velocities of 3.1 to 9.4 ft/D. the mobility contrast between high- and low-
2, and 3. Surfactant 3 generates the most The two composite cores had permeabilities permeability zones in reservoir flow, increas-
stable foams, followed by Surfactants 4, 1, 2, ranging from 525 to 128 md for Core 1 and ing the efficiency of oil displacement.
and 5 (listed by decreasing level of stability). 819 to 106 md for Core 2. Surfactant con- Experimental research indicates that the SMR
centrations of 0.1 wt% were used in Core 1 property of CO2 foam is real. It is observed in
FOAM-MOBILITY TEST experiments, while 0.05 wt% surfactant solu- parallel- and series-core tests with capillary
Core systems containing well-defined high- tions were used in Core 2 experiments. contact and can be presumed to function
and low-permeability regions were con- similarly in actual field situations.
structed to assess the flowing-foam proper- Results and Discussion. Comparison of the
ties and verify the existence of SMR in het- mobility data in the first three core sections CONCLUSIONS
erogeneous porous media. This experiment indicates that the mobility of CO2/brine is 1. The stability of foam in the bulk phase
used two well-defined permeability regions reduced by the addition of surfactant. Foam can be correlated with the performance of
in capillary contact arranged in series. The mobilities are significantly lower than the total foam flowing in porous media. When com-
series assembly uses two 1/2-in.-diameter mobility of CO2/brine. This mobility reduc- paring different surfactants, greater foam
cores approximately 3 in. long. The core- tion varies with surfactant, surfactant concen- stability gives more mobility reduction in
holder is fitted with five equally spaced tration, and flow condition. In general, foam foam displacement.
pressure taps so that the middle tap is near mobility is lower when foam is generated at 2. The MRF increases as the reduction
the junction of the cores. The abutting end higher surfactant concentrations or when factor of the IFT between CO2 and the
faces of the cores are carefully cut perpen- foam is displaced at a lower injection rate. aqueous phase increases.
dicular to their axes and ground flat before When mobility dependence on rock per- 3. An optimum concentration exists at
mounting end to end. The space between meability is examined, SMR is also found to which the most stable foam in the bulk phase
the two core faces is filled with fine sand. depend on the surfactant type, concentra- is formed. This optimum concentration is
Pressure differences between each pair of tion, and flow rate. When the mobility of close to the CMC of each surfactant solution.
pressure taps is recorded. The fluids flowing CO2/brine or CO2/foam is plotted vs. the 4. Factors that favor reducing the mobili-
into a foam generator and the composite sectional permeability, the slope of the line ty of CO2/brine also lead to a more favorable
core are injected by two pumps, a positive- indicates the degree to which the the mobil- SMR when foam flows in a composite core
displacement pump for the CO2 and a pis- ity of fluid depends on the permeability of consisting of differing permeabilities.
ton pump for brine or surfactant solution. porous media. A slope of one indicates that
The pressure is maintained at an almost the mobility of the fluid is proportional to Please read the full-length paper for addi-
constant level by leading the output fluids the rock permeability as described by tional detail, illustrations, and references.
into a backward-running piston pump. Darcy’s law. A value of less than one shows a The paper from which the synopsis has
When the experimental conditions reach favorable dependence of SMR that will lead been taken has not been peer reviewed.

70 JANUARY 1998 •