Application of Foam for Gas and Water Shut-off: Review of Field Experience

Жданов, С А; Amiyan, A.V.; Surguchev, L.M.; Castanier, L.M.; Hanssen, Jan Erik

doi:10.2118/36914-ms

Cited by 50 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…They are used in a number of industrial applications, including glass manufacturing, ore flotation, or firefighting technology [ Stevenson , ]. Enhanced oil recovery (EOR) has been the first application for subsurface environments: injection of surfactant together with gas into the subsurface has been used as early as 50 years ago [ Patzek , ] to generate foam in situ and improve oil sweep, in particular, in the framework of steam EOR [ Zhdanov et al ., ]. More recently, foams have been used to remediate aquifers contaminated with nonaqueous phase liquids (NAPLs), in a manner very similar to EOR [ Hirasaki et al ., ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The flow of a foam in a two‐dimensional porous medium

Baudouin

Jones

Cantat

et al. 2016

Water Resources Research

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International audienceFoams have been used for decades as displacing fluids for enhanced oil recovery and aquifer remediation, and more recently, for remediation of the vadose zone, in which case foams carry chemical amendments. Foams are better injection fluids than aqueous solutions due to their low sensitivity to gravity and because they are less sensitive to permeability heterogeneities, thus allowing a more uniform sweep. The latter aspect results from their peculiar rheology, whose understanding motivates the present study. We investigate foam flow through a two-dimensional porous medium consisting of circular obstacles positioned randomly in a horizontal transparent Hele-Shaw cell. The local foam structure is recorded in situ, which provides a measure of the spatial distribution of bubble velocities and sizes at regular time intervals. The flow exhibits a rich phenomenology including preferential flow paths and local flow nonstationarity (intermittency) despite the imposed permanent global flow rate. Moreover, the medium selects the bubble size distribution through lamella division-triggered bubble fragmentation. Varying the mean bubble size of the injected foam, its water content, and mean velocity, we characterize those processes systematically. In particular, we measure the spatial evolution of the distribution of bubble areas, and infer the efficiency of bubble fragmentation depending on the various control parameters. We furthermore show that the distributions of bubble sizes and velocities are correlated. This study sheds new light on the local rheology of foams in porous media and opens the way toward quantitative characterization of the relationship between medium geometry and foam flow properties. It also suggests that large-scale models of foam flows in the subsurface should account for the correlation between bubble sizes and velocities

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The flow of a foam in a two‐dimensional porous medium

Baudouin

Jones

Cantat

et al. 2016

Water Resources Research

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“…The most used technique is the SAG (surfactant alternating gas) method either alone or combined with co-injection of surfactant solution and gas or with injection of pre-generated foam. Evaluation of the interpretations and results from these foam trials have shown that both positive and negative results have been achieved (Heuer and Jacobs 1968;Krause et al 1992;Aarra et al 1996;Skauge 2000, 2002;Zhdanov et al 1996;Thach et al 1996;Svorstøl et al 1997;Chukwueke et al 1998;Blaker et al 2002; testing is foam can be re-freshened with further WAG cycles after SAG. This will counteract the foam drying effect and gravity segregation that may act over time in the reservoir.…”

Section: Foam Generation Methods For Field Applicationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Foam is defined as a dispersion of gas in liquid (Hirasaki 1989;Kovscek and Radke 1994) and has been utilized as a tool for gas mobility-and conformance control in porous media for a wide range of applications, since the late 1950s. Industrial applications of foam in porous formations include enhanced oil recovery (EOR) (Aarra and Skauge 2000;Enick and Olsen 2012;Rossen 1996;Zhdanov et al 1996), matrix-acidizing treatments (Thompson and Gdanski 1993;Parlar et al 1995;Zeilinger et al 1995), improved underground storage of gas (Smith and Jikich 1993), as well as contaminated-aquifer remediation (Hirasaki et al 1997). Despite its unique properties, broad applicability and extensive experience gained over the past 60 years, foam has not become a standard reservoir engineering oil recovery process.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Foam Generation, Propagation and Stability in Porous Medium

et al. 2019

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There have been several foam field applications in recent years. Foam treatments targeting gas mobility control in injectors as well as gas blocking in production wells have been performed without causing operational problems. The most widely used injection strategy of foam has been injecting alternating slugs of surfactant in brine with gas injection. This procedure seems to be beneficial as injection is easy to perform and control below fracturing pressure. Simultaneous injection of surfactant solution and gas may give difficulties, especially with interpretation of the tests, if fracturing pressure are exceeded during the injection period. This paper reviews critical aspects of foam for reservoir applications and intends to motivate for further field trials. Key parameters for qualification of foam are: foam generation, propagation in porous medium, foam strength and stability of foam. Stability is discussed, especially in the presence of oil at reservoir conditions. Data on each of these topics are included, as well as extracted summary of relevant literature. Experimental studies have shown that foam is generated at low surfactant concentration even below the CMC (critical micelle concentration). Results indicate that in situ foam generation in porous medium may depend on available nucleation sites. In situ generation of foam is complex and has been found to be especially difficult in oil wet carbonate rocks. Foam propagation in porous medium has been summarized, and propagation rate for a given experiment seems to be constant with time and distance. Laboratory studies confirm a propagation rate of 1-3 m/day. Field tests performed have not given reliable information of foam propagation rate, and future field pilots are encouraged to include observation wells in order to gain information of field-scale foam propagation. Foam strength is generally high with all gases. The exception is CO 2 at high pressure where CO 2 becomes supercritical. Stability of foam has been studied in laboratory and field tests, and has confirmed long-term stability of foam.

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“…The results revealed in the paper were used when planning and implementing the program of non-stationary flooding at the first production facility of the seventh block (central part) at the deposit of Severnye Buzachi [3].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Developing the technology of non-stationary treatment through the example of the deposit of Severnye Buzachi

Almukhametova¹

2018

Proceedings of the International Conference "Actual Issues of Mechanical Engineering" (AIME 2018)

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In the last few years the research on efficiency of nonstationary treatment technology has been conducted at high-viscosity index oil field of Severnye Buzachi (Republic of Kazakh). The obtained results reveal that the technology of non-stationary flooding is efficient when developing reservoirs with high-viscosity index oil. However, in order to maintain permanent high technological efficiency it is necessary to modify the technology of non-stationary treatment continually since this technology has such characteristic feature as quick "ageing". The further investigation into the issue how to apply the technology of non-stationary flooding efficiently can be carried out in two directions: to use non-stationary flooding for new pools with different porosity and permeability properties as well as to vary technological parameters of non-stationary flooding (including combination with other technologies) at sites where this technology has already been applied. At the deposit of Severnye Buzachi both approaches are used. Positive experience of applying the technology of non-stationary flooding in combination with the technology of changing filtration flow direction at the pool of the seventh block of the deposit of Severnye Buzachi allows us to recommend using this technology for new pools.

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Application of Foam for Gas and Water Shut-off: Review of Field Experience

Cited by 50 publications

References 13 publications

The flow of a foam in a two‐dimensional porous medium

The flow of a foam in a two‐dimensional porous medium

Foam Generation, Propagation and Stability in Porous Medium

Developing the technology of non-stationary treatment through the example of the deposit of Severnye Buzachi

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