Foam and emulsion effects on gas driven oil recovery

Technical Report · Tue Nov 01 00:00:00 EST 1988

OSTI ID:6577329

Farrell, J; Marsden, Jr, S S

The aim of this research was to investigate the gas mobility reducing effects that a gas driven surfactant slug has on enhanced oil recovery (EOR). Three chemically similar surfactants whose properties graded from foaming agent to emulsifying agent were used to study the effects that foam and emulsion formation have on enhanced oil recovery in an unconsolidated Ottawa sand model at room temperature. Both the foam lamellae and the emulsion droplets act to reduce the mobility of the injected gas in the swept zone, thus increasing the vertical sweep efficiency. Shell's Enordet series of alcohol ethoxylate surfactants were used in the study at three different concentrations of, 0.01%, 0.03% and 0.100% (wt.). The experimental procedure consisted of displacing oil from a porous medium at residual water saturation by injecting carbon dioxide, followed first by the injection of a 0.20 pore volume slug of surfactant solution, then by carbon dioxide gas at low pressure. Measurements were made of the cumulative produced gas and liquids. Performance differences between different surfactants are small but consistent. Combining the foam and emulsion mechanisms seems to lead to more efficient oil recovery than either mechanism alone. 33 refs., 14 figs., 3 tabs.

• Research Organization: Stanford Univ., CA (USA). Petroleum Research Inst.
• DOE Contract Number: AC03-81SF11564; FG19-87BC14126
• OSTI ID: 6577329
• Report Number(s): DOE/BC/14126-3; SUPRI-TR-62; ON: DE88001247
• Resource Relation: Other Information: Portions of this document are illegible in microfiche products
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
CARBON DIOXIDE
GAS FLOW
EMULSIONS
PERFORMANCE
FOAMS
ALCOHOLS
DISPLACEMENT FLUIDS
DISPLACEMENT RATES
ENHANCED RECOVERY
MOBILITY
POROSITY
SURFACE TENSION
SURFACTANTS
YIELDS
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBON OXIDES
CHALCOGENIDES
COLLOIDS
DISPERSIONS
FLUID FLOW
FLUIDS
HYDROXY COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
RECOVERY
SURFACE PROPERTIES
020300* - Petroleum- Drilling & Production