A Review on Foam Stabilizers for Enhanced Oil Recovery

Abstract

The application of foam in the upstream petroleum industry has gained significant interest in the past few years. Foam usage can mitigate challenges associated with the gas flooding; it simply reduces the gas’s mobility, which could significantly enhance the sweep efficiency. Foam is generated using CO2 or N2 and stabilized by different materials such as surfactants, nanoparticles, polymers, or a combination thereof. The success of foam injection mainly depends on the stability of the flowing foam; the harsh reservoir conditions is one of the major challenges in this regard. Historically, surfactants have been used to generate and stabilize foams. However, recently, nanoparticles have gained attention due to their higher adsorption energy at the gas–liquid interface. In this paper, foam stabilizers such as surfactants, nanoparticles, and polymers are reviewed. Relevant advantages/disadvantages of different foam stabilizers and associated challenges are also highlighted. The results obtained in previous studies are discussed, and conflicting findings are highlighted and critically analyzed. Field applications of CO2 foam are also discussed in this Review. There are only a few field trials using surfactant stabilized foam. However, nanoparticle stabilized foam has not been tested in the field.

Carbon Dioxide Applications for Enhanced Oil Recovery Assisted by Nanoparticles: Recent Developments

“… 16 These methods, based on the use of foams, can be applied to oil production from highly heterogeneous reservoirs with highly permeable and porous interlayers, as well as sections, including water-saturated intervals. 16 …”

“…Two methods are distinguished: (1) simultaneous injection of components (coinjection), where the quality of the foam is determined by the fraction of CO 2 in the mixture, and (2) surfactant-alternating gas (SAG) injection, where the quality of the foam depends on the proportions of both components (CO 2 and surfactant). 16 Generally, there are many types of surfactant-stabilized foams used in EOR. These are classified as anionic, cationic, nonionic, biosurfactant, and zwitterionic surfactants.…”

“…Experiments using oil displacement technologies with simultaneous injection of CO 2 and water rims (SWAG) and FAWAG on a core model showed that a higher oil recovery rate of up to 92% could be achieved. 16 These methods, based on the use of foams, can be applied to oil production from highly heterogeneous reservoirs with highly permeable and porous interlayers, as well as sections, including water-saturated intervals. 16 …”

Application of Polymers for Chemical Enhanced Oil Recovery: A Review

“…Foam in porous media is defined as gas dispersions in liquid wherein the liquid phase is continuous and a portion of the gas phase is made discontinuous by thin liquid films known as lamellae [ 79 ]. Foams are generated when a foaming agent that contains liquid is brought in contact with gases such as N 2 , CO 2 , and air and sufficient mechanical energy is supplied.…”

Perspectives in Nanocellulose for Crude Oil Recovery: A Minireview

“…A relatively new method known as foam-assisted chemical flooding (FACF) uses a surfactant plug to reduce water–oil IFT, followed by a foam drive to control oil mobility in reservoirs. The FACF process requires stable surfactants and foams, resilient to salinity and high-temperature conditions, and antifoaming agents (hydrocarbons) in the crude oil. ,, In EOR using FACF, the increased viscosity of the displacing phase as a result of bubbles combined with the ability of the surfactant to decrease IFT is used to increase both the macroscopic sweep/displacement efficiency of the reservoir and the microscopic oil displacement efficiency. Cellulose nanofibers containing lignin segments (CNF–L, 0.1 wt %, with 4–15 wt % lignin and 1.12–1.35 wt % COOH) mixed with surfactants [0.4 wt %, alkyl polyglycoside (APG) and α-olefin sulfonate (AOS)] exhibited reduced foam drainage rates, up to 5 times, in contrast with the surfactant alone .…”