Oil effect on CO₂ foam stabilized by a switchable amine surfactant at high temperature and high salinity

Journal Article · Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 EDT 2018 · Fuel

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2018.04.020· OSTI ID:1566334

Chen, Hao ^[1]; Elhag, Amro S. ^[2]; Chen, Yunshen ^[3]; Noguera, Jose A. ^[3]; AlSumaiti, Ali M. ^[4]; Hirasaki, George J. ^[5]; Nguyen, Quoc P. ^[6]; Biswal, Sibani L. ^[5]; Yang, Shenglai ^[7]; Johnston, Keith P. ^[3]

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1. China Univ. of Petroleum, Beijing (China). Key Lab. of Petroleum Engineering of MOE; Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States). McKetta Dept. of Chemical Engineering
2. Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States). McKetta Dept. of Chemical Engineering; Khalifa Univ. of Science and Technology, The Petroleum Inst., Abu Dhabi (United arab Emirates). Dept. of Petroleum Engineering
3. Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States). McKetta Dept. of Chemical Engineering
4. Khalifa Univ. of Science and Technology, The Petroleum Inst., Abu Dhabi (United arab Emirates). Dept. of Petroleum Engineering
5. Rice Univ., Houston, TX (United States). Dept. of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
6. Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States). Hildebrand Dept. of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering
7. China Univ. of Petroleum, Beijing (China). Key Lab. of Petroleum Engineering of MOE

Despite the possible detrimental effect of oil on foam displacement processes in CO₂ EOR the effect of oil on dense CO₂ foams has received little attention relative to air foams or low density CO₂ foams. Herein, the effect of both a first contact miscible hydrocarbon (dodecane) and crude oil on CO₂/water (C/W) foams generated by a switchable surfactant, C_12–14N(EO)₂ was examined at dense CO₂ conditions at temperatures up to 120 °C (393 K) and 3400 psia (23 MPa). Upon increasing the fractional flow of dodecane, a gradual decrease in foam viscosity was observed as the foam becomes unstable. Since only two phases are present, traditional destabilization mechanisms for three phase oil/gas/water systems based on the entering and spreading are invalid. Therefore, an alternative mechanism is suggested whereby added dodecane strengthen the surfactant tail interactions with the nonaqueous phase (mixture of CO₂ and dodecane) to shift the hydrophilic-CO₂ philic balance (HCB) towards an unstable region. This mechanism is supported by a decrease of the CO₂–water interfacial tension from ~5 mN/m to 0.5 mN/m for dodecane–water systems at 120 °C and 3400 psia. The effect of crude oil was more profound than for dodecane, whereby rapid destabilization of foam occurred at an oil fractional flow as low as 0.2. In this case, the immiscible portion of the crude oil can enter and spread at the lamellae to destabilize the foam as is evident in positive entering and spreading coefficients. Also, other foam destabilizing parameters such as temperature and capillary pressure were studied in the presence of oil and the results were consistent with those in the absence of oil.

• Research Organization: Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) (United States). Center for Frontiers of Subsurface Energy Security (CFSES); Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
• DOE Contract Number: SC0001114
• OSTI ID: 1566334
• Journal Information: Fuel, Vol. 227, Issue C; ISSN 0016-2361
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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