Stability Comparison Between Particles-Stabilized Foams and Polymer-Stabilized Foams

Abstract

The enhanced oil recovery (EOR) results of foam flooding depend largely on the stability of foam flow within porous reservoirs. To stabilize foams, polymers such as partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide are often introduced into the foaming agent. However, particles-stabilized foams have been paid more attentions in recent years. To investigate the better stabilizer for foam application in EOR, experimental stability comparison between polymer-stabilized foams and clay particles-stabilized foams was investigated. To do this, the static stability of bulk foams was studied by half-life of foams and rheological behavior of foaming agent solution. The dynamic stability of two types of compressed foams in porous media was then compared with blocking ability. Results showed that particles-stabilized bulk foams were more stable than polymer-stabilized bulk foams, and the viscoelasticity of surfactant-particles solution was higher. Moreover, blocking ability of particles-stabilized foams was also better than that of polymer-stabilized ones.

Stability, CO2 sensitivity, oil tolerance and displacement efficiency of polymer enhanced foam

“…6,7 As a macromolecule, the role of the polymer is to modify the rheological behavior of foam lms. 8 Huh and Rossen stated that the apparent viscosity of foam is determined by the rheological behavior of the polymer-surfactant solution. 9 Meanwhile, the drainage process of bulk foam is highly dependent on the viscosity of liquid phase.…”

Microfluidics Mediated Production of Foams for Biomedical Applications

“…To avoid these mechanisms, the use of stabilizing agents is necessary. Usually, different chemical surfactants (such as SDS [3,4]) are used, but polymers (e.g., partially-hydrolyzed polyacrylamide for EOR applications [5]), proteins, or particles (e.g., biopolymer-based particles [97]) can also be useful for some specific applications.…”

“…Foams can find a variety of applications in different industrial sectors [2] depending on their type. Liquid foams are widely used in detergents [3][4][5], food [6], cosmetics [7][8][9][10], fire-fighting [11], oil recovery [12], and pharmaceutical applications [7,[13][14][15][16][17][18]. Solid foams can find applications as insulation materials [19] and as packing and cushioning materials [20].…”

Enhanced stability and high temperature-tolerance of CO2 foam based on a long-chain viscoelastic surfactant for CO2 foam flooding

“…16 The most commonly method for improving foam stability is addition of the so-called foam stabilizers to foam agent solutions. 17,18 Foam stabilizers are generally divided into two categories according to their function principles. One is to reduce the ability of CO 2 to permeate through foam lms, via increasing the amount of adsorbed surfactant at the foam lm by addition of some synergic agents, or via reducing the contact area of CO 2 -liquid phase by adding nanoparticles to the dispersion solutions.…”