Mixed CO2/N2 Foam for EOR as a Novel Solution for Supercritical CO2 Foam Challenges in Sandstone Reservoirs

Abdelaal, Ahmed; Gajbhiye, Rahul; Shehri, Dhafer Al

doi:10.1021/acsomega.0c04801

Cited by 31 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 73 publications

(100 reference statements)

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“…However, when N2 replaced 20% of CO 2 , the foam generated by mixed CO 2 /N 2 achieved the largest oil recovery factor of 34.95%. The experimental results represent that adding N 2 into the pure CO 2 system can increase the strength of the generated foam, which is consistent with the previous results by Hassan et al and Abdelaal et al (Hassan and Gajbhiye, 2018;Abdelaal et al, 2020).…”

Section: Foam-co 2 -Based Eor Methodssupporting

confidence: 92%

Improvement of oil recovery factor in tight reservoirs: A laboratory approach based on carbon dioxide enhanced oil recovery methods

Zhang

Wu²,

Hao³

et al. 2022

Front. Energy Res.

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Production from unconventional oil reservoirs has always been a critical issue for the oil industry. In this regard, we implemented a set of experimental scenarios containing CO2/N2 cyclic injection, the foams generated by nitrogen and carbon dioxide, cyclic carbon dioxide injection, and a combined effect of carbon dioxide and surfactant enhanced oil recovery methods. As water injection has reached a plateau around two pore volume injection, we continued the tests from two pore volume injection for different scenarios. It was observed that CO2/N2-foam has the highest oil recovery factor of 34.9%; however, CO2-foam, regarding more feasibility than N2, witnessed the highest oil recovery factor after CO2/N2-foam. On the other hand, the incremental oil recovery factor for surfactant flooding, carbonated water flooding, and carbonated water with surfactant flooding is measured at 4.9, 8.5, and 10.6%, respectively.

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Section: Foam-co 2 -Based Eor Methodssupporting

confidence: 92%

Improvement of oil recovery factor in tight reservoirs: A laboratory approach based on carbon dioxide enhanced oil recovery methods

Zhang

Wu²,

Hao³

et al. 2022

Front. Energy Res.

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“…12−14 The generation of strong foam drastically reduces mobility. 15,16 Some researchers examined the effect where the addition of a polymer to the injected surfactant solution enhances both foam viscosity and stability, and such polymer-enhanced foams (PEFs) can be used as an effective mobility control agent. 17−19 When the bulk liquid used to generate foam contains polymers, the foam has more resistance to gas flow than foam generated by a bulk solution without polymers.…”

Section: ■ Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For a constant flow of a co-injected gas and liquid in a pre-flushed (with surfactant solution) homogeneous porous medium, there is a pressure gradient observed for which the generation of weak foam changes to the generation of strong foam. − The generation of strong foam drastically reduces mobility. , …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigation of Foam Flooding Assisted by Non-Newtonian and Novel Newtonian Viscosifying Agents for Enhanced Oil Recovery

Hosseini-Nasab

Rezaee

Taal³

et al. 2022

ACS Omega

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One of the main reasons for foam flooding enhanced oil recovery (EOR) is mobilizing oil left in the reservoir after primary recovery (depletion by pressure difference solely) and water flooding. However, expanding the infrastructure for certain foam EOR projects might be necessary as more wells are required, or a different well pattern is necessary. This study aims to study the effect of Newtonian and non-Newtonian viscosifying agents to assist foam flooding under the porous medium condition and to compare the results. Furthermore, this paper attempts to investigate the use of glycerol as a novel promising economic and ecological candidate instead of polymers. The shear rate inside the core was calculated based on the literature, which was combined with viscometric measurements in order to form four pairs of equal apparent viscosity. The differences and overlap within the core flooding experiments with foam generated by Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids were observed by examining the mobility reduction factor under transient and steady-state conditions and by calculating the gas fraction present in the core. It was concluded that glycerol in core flood experiments could reach the same mobility reduction factor of about 1600 as polymer solutions with the same apparent viscosity, as long as the viscosity of the injected solution is reasonably low. Moreover, glycerol even reached the maximum mobility reduction factor faster than the foam generated by the polymer solution.

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“…An M value less than 1 is deemed to reflect an ideal displacement state. Foam can decrease the k rD value of the gas phase to further decrease M. 6,7 The main function of foam is to control the profile of flooding fluids. Therefore, there are many studies on the effect of foam flooding in heterogeneous reservoirs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…An M value less than 1 is deemed to reflect an ideal displacement state. Foam can decrease the k rD value of the gas phase to further decrease M . , …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental Study on the Effect of Microheterogeneity on Multiphase Flow in a Microscopic Visualization Model

Wang

Zhou

et al. 2022

Energy Fuels

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Nitrogen foam flooding has been widely used in fossil fuel reservoirs for enhanced oil recovery (EOR). However, from a microscopic perspective, the effects of microheterogeneity in various pore structures on both multiphase flow characteristics and EOR during foam flooding after water flooding have not yet been systematically investigated. Therefore, combining computed tomography scanning, casting thin section observations, and microelectronic photolithography, a visual micromodel with three permeability zones was developed. The microheterogeneity in different permeability zones was quantitatively characterized by integrating constant-rate mercury injection data with the fractal theory; then, some experiments were carried out to simulate water and foam flooding injection. Afterward, the multiphase flow characteristics and EOR mechanisms in the zones with different pore structures that exhibited microheterogeneity were analyzed. Finally, the remaining oil distribution and the improvement effect of nitrogen foam flooding in different permeability zones were quantified. The experimental results reveal the following findings: (1) during both water and foam flooding, the flow characteristics vary among the three permeability zones, and the effect of microheterogeneity is greater than that of permeability. The water flooding EOR (59.03%) in the high-permeability zone with the strongest heterogeneity is lower than that in the homogeneous medium-permeability zone (68.48%). (2) For different permeability zones, there are various methods to regenerate foam, which may significantly improve the heterogeneity in the intralayer (microheterogeneity of the pore structure) and interlayer (different permeability zones), and a stronger microheterogeneity results in a greater EOR. Therefore, the EORs in the high-, medium-, and low-permeability zones are 16.39, 8.43, and 14.64%, respectively. (3) Six types of remaining oil may be trapped and occur at various locations. Foam flooding may greatly reduce the remaining oil in the form of flakes and clusters, while the proportion of remaining oil in the form of thin films and columns may increase by 4.36 and 1.44%, respectively. This quantitatively characterizes the EOR micromechanism of foam flooding that transforms contiguous remaining oil into dispersed remaining oil. (4) The gas fraction in foam may gradually decrease from high-to low-permeability zones, indicating that foam is mostly in some larger pores and results in the flow of the liquid toward smaller pores or lower-permeability zones to further expand the sweep area. At the microscopic pore scale, the EOR mechanism of foam flooding that large pores, not small pores, are blocked and the sweep volume is expanded is demonstrated.

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Mixed CO₂/N₂ Foam for EOR as a Novel Solution for Supercritical CO₂ Foam Challenges in Sandstone Reservoirs

Cited by 31 publications

References 73 publications

Improvement of oil recovery factor in tight reservoirs: A laboratory approach based on carbon dioxide enhanced oil recovery methods

Improvement of oil recovery factor in tight reservoirs: A laboratory approach based on carbon dioxide enhanced oil recovery methods

Investigation of Foam Flooding Assisted by Non-Newtonian and Novel Newtonian Viscosifying Agents for Enhanced Oil Recovery

Experimental Study on the Effect of Microheterogeneity on Multiphase Flow in a Microscopic Visualization Model

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