Steam foam studies in the presence of residual oil

摘要

The lack of understanding regarding foam flow in porous media necessitates further research. This paper reports on going work at Stanford University aimed at increasing our understanding in the particular area of steam foams. The behavior of steam foam is investigated with a one dimensional (6 ft. x 2.15 in.) sandpack under residual oil conditions of approximately 12 percent. The strength of the in-situ generated foam, indicated by pressure drops, is significantly affected by injection procedure, slug size, and steam quality. The surfactant concentration effect is minor in the range studied. In the presence of residual oil the simultaneous injection of steam and surfactant fails to generate foam in the model even though the same procedure generates a strong foam in the absence of oil. Nevertheless when surfactant is injected as a slug ahead of the steam using a surfactant alternating (SAG) procedure, foam is generated. The suggested reason for the success of SAG is the increased phase mixing that results from steam continually having to reestablish a path through a slug of surfactant solution.