Sweep improvement in CO/sub 2/ flooding by use of foaming agents

Journal Article · Tue Nov 01 04:00:00 EST 1988 · SPE (Society of Petroleum Engineers) Reserv. Eng.; (United States)

OSTI ID:6544989

Casteel, J F; Djabbarah, N F

This study has two objectives: (1) to screen and select foaming agents for specific CO/sub 2/ floods and (2) to determine the effectiveness of foam in improving sweep efficiency in CO/sub 2/ flooding. Foaming agents were evaluated on their ability to produce ample, lasting foam and to have low loss from adsorption on reservoir rock and decomposition at reservoir conditions. Foaming agents that performed well in shaking, blender, long-term stability, and high-pressure stability tests were selected for core-flow experiments. The stability test results demonstrated that foaming agents are reservoir-specific. The extent of the loss depends on the foaming agent, reservoir fluids, reservoir lithology, and reservoir conditions. The core-flow experiments involved the simultaneous injection of CO/sub 2/ into two waterflooded Berea cores. The cores were arranged in parallel and had different permeabilities. The test temperature and pressure was constant and above the critical conditions for CO/sub 2/. Three types of core-flow tests, involving injection of CO/sub 2/ to displace oil, injection of alternate slugs of CO/sub 2/ and brine, and injection of foaming agents, were conducted. The foaming agents were injected before CO/sub 2/ injection and after CO/sub 2/ had displaced oil from the more permeable core. The results show that in-situ foam generation is an effective method for improving CO/sub 2/ displacement efficiency. Foam was most effective when the foaming agent was injected after CO/sub 2/ displaced the oil from the more permeable core. The improved sweep efficiency was caused by the tendency of the foam to be generated preferentially in the more permeable core. The foam increased resistance to flow in this core and caused more CO/sub 2/ to flow through the less permeable core. The second injection method is also more applicable to field implementation.

• OSTI ID: 6544989
• Journal Information: SPE (Society of Petroleum Engineers) Reserv. Eng.; (United States), Journal Name: SPE (Society of Petroleum Engineers) Reserv. Eng.; (United States) Vol. 3:4; ISSN SREEE
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020300* -- Petroleum-- Drilling & Production
37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
400201 -- Chemical & Physicochemical Properties
ADSORPTION
BENCH-SCALE EXPERIMENTS
BRINES
CARBON DIOXIDE INJECTION
COLLOIDS
DATA
DISPERSIONS
DISPLACEMENT FLUIDS
DRILL CORES
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FIELD TESTS
FLUID INJECTION
FLUIDS
FOAMS
HIGH PRESSURE
INFORMATION
INJECTION WELLS
LITHOLOGY
MISCIBLE-PHASE DISPLACEMENT
NUMERICAL DATA
OIL WELLS
RESERVOIR ROCK
SORPTION
SWEEP EFFICIENCY
TESTING
WATERFLOODING
WELLS