Estimation of Local Equilibrium Model Parameters for Simulation of the Laboratory Foam-Enhanced Oil Recovery Process Using a Commercial Reservoir Simulator

Abstract

An accurate determination of the foam simulation parameters is crucial in modeling foam flow in porous media. In this paper, we present an integrated workflow to obtain the parameters in the local equilibrium foam model by history matching a series of laboratory experiments performed at reservoir conditions (131 F and 1500 psi) on Estaillades limestone using a commercial reservoir simulator. The gas–water and water–oil relative permeability curves were first validated after history matching with the unsteady-state flooding experiments. The modeling parameters for foam generation and foam dry-out effect were obtained by history matching with the gas/surfactant coinjection experiments at varying foam quality and injection rates. Moreover, the modeling parameters for the destabilizing effect of oil on foam and foam shear thinning effect were derived after history matching with the foam-enhanced oil recovery process and oil fractional flow experiments in the laboratory. In practice, the calculated results reproduce the experimental outputs reasonably well. Furthermore, sensitivity analysis of foam modeling parameters is investigated to determine the most dominating parameters for accurate simulation of foam-enhanced oil recovery process in porous media. In this work, an efficient parameter estimation approach is developed from reliable foam flooding experimental data, which may be further applied to field-scale simulation. Moreover, the simulation approach can also be utilized to facilitate our interpretation of complex lab foam flooding results.

Probing the Effect of Wettability on Transport Behavior of Foam for Enhanced Oil Recovery in a Carbonate Reservoir

“…The APG surfactant is a good foamer, and the optimal foam quality for foam flooding (FF) is found to be between 60 to 70% on Estaillades for 0.2 wt % APG in SSB at 131 °F from a previous study (Section S.4 in the Supporting Information) . To be conservative, the foam flooding for EOR was performed at a gas fraction of 65%.…”

“…The APG surfactant is a good foamer, and the optimal foam quality for foam flooding (FF) is found to be between 60 to 70% on Estaillades for 0.2 wt % APG in SSB at 131 °F from a previous study (Section S.4 in the Supporting Information). 2 To be conservative, the foam flooding for EOR was performed at a gas fraction of 65%. For test WW1, the foam flooding test was first performed on water-wet cores, in order to illustrate the effect of wettability on foam transport behavior.…”

“…Foam enhanced oil recovery (EOR) has been extensively applied in the oil field to ameliorate the challenges of viscous fingering, gravity segregation, and channeling encountered during gas flooding. − As for foam flow in porous media, the lamellae may be intermittently generated by snap-off, lamellae division, and leave behind, while it can also be easily collapsed due to gravity and high capillary pressure. , The foam strength, i.e., foam apparent viscosity, is largely dependent on in situ foam generation and the foam stability in porous media. , Two distinct regimes, namely, the low-quality regime and the high quality regime, have been observed in the strong foam state . The high quality regime foam has attracted greater interests due to the concern of high surfactant cost …”

“…11 The high quality regime foam has attracted greater interests due to the concern of high surfactant cost. 2 It is reported that the foam strength in porous media is largely influenced by the surfactant type and concentration, 9 reservoir property (salinity, hardness, temperature, wettability, oil saturation, permeability, heterogeneity, etc. ), 12−19 operational methods (flow rate, injection scheme, foam quality, etc.…”

Estimating of Non-Darcy Flow Coefficient in Artificial Porous Media

“…Single-phase flow experiments in heterogeneous core samples Shachi et al [36] and two-phase flow modeling homogeneous core samples [37] were performed. We have also completed several studies related to foam flow in heterogeneous core samples without the presence of oil [38,39]. We have also created synthetic core samples and a perforation tunnel to conduct single-phase flow experiments and model a peroration tunnel [40][41][42][43].…”