Surface properties and flow behavior of foams in relation to fluid displacement in porous media
Surface properties such as surface tension, surface viscosity, foaminess, foam quality, apparent foam viscosity, rate of drainage, bubble size distribution, etc., were investigated and correlated with fluid displacement in porous media. The effect of chain length compatability, i.e., similarity, on surface properties of foaming solutions and fluid displacement in porous media were also studied. Two mathematical models for foam flow through porous media were developed which can be used to predict foam viscosity and foam behavior in porous media. To better understand the foam stability, a numerical solution of the Poisson-Boltzmann equation in two dimensional bispherical coordinates was obtained and used to calculate the potential energy of interaction between two spherical bubbles. Predicted potential energies were consistent with results from other models. The effect of polymer on foam properties was also studied. The improvement of surface activity of the surfactants was due mainly to the effect of the excluded polymer volume and electrical double layers. The change of the surface properties of the polymer containing foam was dependent on the counterbalance of the rheology of the liquid films and the water content in the liquid films. These studies have been successfully applied to enhanced oil recovery and to characterization of biological polymers. A concept of surfactant-polymer-foam flooding is proposed, including the use of nonionic surfactants to form alcohol-free microemulsions and the injection of foam for the mobility control in heavy oil recovery.
- Research Organization:
- Florida Univ., Gainesville, FL (USA)
- OSTI ID:
- 7081066
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: Thesis (Ph. D.)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Foam Transport in Porous Media - A Review
Correlation of chain length compatibility and surface properties of mixed foaming agents with fluid displacement efficiency and effective air mobility in porous media
Related Subjects
FOAMS
RHEOLOGY
POROUS MATERIALS
FLOW MODELS
BUBBLES
CORRELATIONS
DRAINAGE
ENHANCED RECOVERY
FLUID FLOW
MICROEMULSION FLOODING
NUMERICAL SOLUTION
OIL WELLS
PETROLEUM
POLYMERS
POTENTIAL ENERGY
SIZE
STABILITY
SURFACE PROPERTIES
SURFACE TENSION
SURFACTANTS
VISCOSITY
COLLOIDS
DISPERSIONS
ENERGY
ENERGY SOURCES
FLUID INJECTION
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
MATERIALS
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MISCIBLE-PHASE DISPLACEMENT
RECOVERY
WELLS
020300* - Petroleum- Drilling & Production