Development of Novel EOR (Enhanced Oil Recovery) Methods: Foams for Mobility Control in Surfactant Flooding.

摘要

The use of foam as a novel method for mobility control in surfactant flooding was investigated. This report presents an initial evaluation of the potential application of foam as a mobility control agent behind a low concentration surfactant flood. This enhanced oil recovery (EOR) process involves the injection of alternate slugs of gas and surfactant solution as drive fluids behind the active surfactant slug front as an alternative to the use of polymers in order to eliminate unfavorable surfactant-polymer interactions. Experiments were performed to determine in situ foam generation and propagation using varying concentrations of surfactants in a Berea sandstone core. An apparatus was designed and built to accurately measure differential pressures along sections of the core. Bottle or shake tests using the various concentrations of surfactants and experiments to determine the effect of foam flow on reducing mobility and involved steady-state measurement of differential pressures in the presence of foam were performed. Coreflood displacement experiments in the presence of oil were performed using varying concentrations of surfactants to compare various injection modes and oil recovery efficiency. 15 refs., 18 figs., 5 tabs. (ERA citation 14:012580)