An experimental study of foam in porous media for steam injection improvement

Conference · Tue Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1985

OSTI ID:5865820

Crastanier, L M; Brigham, W E

A research program on steam injection with additives to improve sweep efficiency has been undertaken for several years by the Stanford University Petroleum Research Institute (SUPRI). The laboratory effort has been aimed towards the study of thermal stability of foaming agents and of the flow behavior of foams in porous media. A screening process has been developed for selecting suitable surfactants for use as foaming agents during a steam drive. Three sequential experiments, one at 212/sup 0/F (100/sup 0/C) for a week, the second at 400/sup 0/F (205/sup 0/C) for a few hours, and the last one at 400/sup 0/F (205/sup 0/C) for several weeks, allow the selection of chemicals stable at high temperature in the presence of oil and porous media. In parallel, the flow of foams in porous media has been studied in micromodels, in physical models representing a cross-section of a reservoir and in one-dimensional tubes. In this last case, injection of steam with surfactant yielded pressure gradients much higher than the control runs, using steam only, thus showing blocking action of the foam.

• DOE Contract Number: AC03-76ET12056; AC03-81SF11564
• OSTI ID: 5865820
• Report Number(s): CONF-841121-
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020300* -- Petroleum-- Drilling & Production
ADDITIVES
COLLOIDS
DISPERSIONS
ENHANCED RECOVERY
EQUILIBRIUM
FLUID INJECTION
FOAMS
HIGH TEMPERATURE
MATERIALS
MEDIUM TEMPERATURE
OIL WELLS
POROUS MATERIALS
PRESSURE GRADIENTS
RECOVERY
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
STEAM INJECTION
STIMULATION
STRUCTURAL MODELS
SURFACTANTS
SWEEP EFFICIENCY
THERMAL EQUILIBRIUM
WELL STIMULATION
WELLS