Abstract
An experimental study of the ability of foams to reduce gas mobility in a porous medium is reported. Single carbon number fractions of a surfactant and pure n-alkanes were used as model liquids, and a glass-bead pack was used as a model porous medium. In this simple, idealized model system of a gas-blocking foam in an oil reservoir, clear trends in the mobility reduction , as measured in a gas-blockage test, with varying combinations of oil and surfactant hydrophobe carbon number were observed. These trends could not be reproduced by foam stability as measured in conventional bulk tests, and were not explainable by several potential controlling factors that have been sought to ex0lain similar data before. However, the change in interfacial tension between gas and the aqueous phase upon equilibration with oil appears to be a good predictor of gas-blockage efficiency for the systems studied.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Holm LW (1968) Soc Petr Eng J 8:2, pp 359–369
Persoff P, Radke CJ, Pruess K, Benson SM, Witherspoon PA (1989) Paper SPE 18781 in Proceedings, Soc Petr Eng California Regional Meeting, Bakersfield, April, 1989
Hanssen JE, Rolfsvåg TA, Corneliussen R, Dalland M (1989) Proceedings, 5th European Symposium on Improved Oil Recovery, Budapest, April 1989, pp 737–746
Product information from Hoechst
Hanssen JE (1988) 6th Soc Petr Eng/US Dep Energy Symposium on Enhanced Oil Recovery, Tulsa, April 1988. Paper no. SPE/DOE 17362
Hanssen JE, Dalland M, Goobewardene AP (1990) Paper SPE/DOE 20193 7th SPE/DOE Symposium on Enhanced Oil Recovery, Tulsa April 1990
Meling T (1989) MSc Thesis in Petroleum Engineering, Rogaland University Centre, December 1989
Dalland M, Hansen EW, Thorkildsen G (1988) Proceedings, Symposium on Magnetic Resonance and Relaxation, Portoroz, p 310
Corneliussen R (1988) MSc thesis in Petroleum Engineering, Rogaland University Centre, June 1988
Kanda M (1976) PhD thesis, University of Texas-Austin, 1976
Lau HC, O'Brien SM (1988) SPE Reservoir Eng, 3:3, 893–896
Kuhlman M (1988) Proceedings, 6th Soc Petr Eng/US Dep Energy Symposium on Enhanced Oil Recovery, Tulsa, April 1988. Paper no. SPE/DOE 17356
Brown CE, Neustadter EL (1986) J Canad Petr Tech, pp 100–110
Dullien FAL, Chatzis I, Kantzas A (1989) Proceedings, III Int Symp on Enhanced Oil Recovery, Maracaibo, 1989, pp 425–438
Danesh A, Krinis D, Henderson GD, Peden JM (1989) Proceedings, 5th European Symposium on Improved Oil Recovery, Budapest: pp 135–144
Wasan DT, Nikolov AD, Huang DD, Edwards DA (1988) in Smith DH (ed): “Surfactant-Based Mobility Control, ACS Symp Series 373, Am Chem Soc, Washington: pp 136–163
Friedmann F, Jensen JV (1986) Proceedings, Soc Petr Eng 56th Calif Reg Mtg, Oakland, California. Paper no. SPE 15087
Wasan DT, Nikolov, A, Huang DD (1986) Langmuir (2): pp 672–677
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1990 Dr. Dietrich Steinkopff Verlag GmbH & Co. KG
About this paper
Cite this paper
Meling, T., Hanssen, J.E. (1990). Gas-blocking foams in porous media: effects of oil and surfactant hydrophobe carbon number. In: Lindman, B., Rosenholm, J.B., Stenius, P. (eds) Surfactants and Macromolecules: Self-Assembly at Interfaces and in Bulk. Progress in Colloid & Polymer Science, vol 82. Steinkopff. https://doi.org/10.1007/BFb0118252
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BFb0118252
Published:
Publisher Name: Steinkopff
Print ISBN: 978-3-7985-0838-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-7985-1688-5
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive