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SPE
-~~[mm
SPE 19691
Foam Performance Under Reservoir Conditions
F,E. Suffrldge, K,T. Raterman, an$ Q.C. Russell,Amoco ProductionCo.
SPE Members
@pY:ght16SS,Sodetyot PotrokumEngineer%,
Inc.
Thispaperwaeprepared/orpresentation
at theS4thAnnualTechnicalCo+rference
andExhibikmofth~Sioclety
ofPetroleum
EngineereheldInSanAntonio,
TX,OctoberS-11,1SSS.
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ABSTRACT
redt?:d gas permeability
Foams that ffectively
were formed over wide range of experimental
condiof selected
foaming agents to
tions.
The bility
f orst f oars was evaluated
in bulk foam measurement,
scraening
core tester
nd in reservoir
condition
Resulte
reported
show that oil
usually
core tests.
dversely affacted foan performance with higher
molecular
weight
lkanes showing less of n dverse
Foam can be
effect
for the foaming agents tested.
ffeetively
generated
in an oil-wet
porous medium
than in a
but was shown to be much lass effactive
water-wet
medium for the feaming agents studied,
High pressure
gradients
of up to 4524 kPa/m
rasulted
in effective
foam generation
(200 psi/ft)
foam continuing
to 8500 pore voLwith an effective
umes of injected
nitrogen.
Tha enriched
gas mixture
affect
usad in this study was shown to adversely
foam even though the foaming agent was selected
through screening
testing.
This showed the importance of including
reservoir
condition
testing
prior
to the final selection
of a foaming agent for a
given reservoir
application,
Effective
foaming
for use in pilot
tasts
in a
agents were identified
West Texas c02 flood and in a typicaL CanatypicaL
dian hydrocarbon
miscible
flood.
INTRODUCTION
nd illustrations
at end of paper.
to
be coranon to
miscible
displacement
proc-
was directed
towmd
The work herein reported
the selection
of suitable
foaming gents for use in
two field
tests
of foam.
For these tests,
foam was
to be evaluated for its bility
to reduce gas ~obilgas mixture)
in n injection
ity (C02 or an enriched
well.
Thus, laboratory
efforts
were directed
to the
for
selection
of foaming agents that would provide
the maximum gas mobility
raduction
for the longest
reservoir
conpractical
period of time at +pecific
ditions.
As this work developed,
it t,eceme obvious
that varying
reservoir
conditions
of tamperatura,
water hardness and salinhydrocarbon
composition,
ityt i~:jected gas composition,
etc.
significantly
affected
foam performance.
The purpose of this
of these condipaper is to surrartarize the effects
tions
on foam performance.
Laboratory
Three
established
Experimental
Program
levels of experimental
testing
wera
to select
suitabla
foaming agents$
1.
(screening
2,
Screening
core
and
3,
Reservoir
condition
tests,
core
test),
tests.
FOA!! PERFORMANCE
will
be so designated
throughout
white Oilt hao an average
of CIS nd will be so designated
paper.
dol,
UNDERIMMIUJOIR CONDITION5
Blanthis
pa#3r.
lkane chain length
this
throughout
in
gas parmnability
data re preeentet
for
Formalized
data re also present-d
condition
test
in Figme
16 to simplify
Effects
for fosming agents
was:
The simpleet
screening
dissolve,
if possible,
the foaming agent in che
ppropriate
brine;
pour this
solution
into a cylinder nd seal the cylinder$
shake the cylinder
and
Howevert our
measure the foam height generated.
xperience showed this technique to produce rather
To provide more consistent
screening
arratic
data.
the bulk foam test
was developed as is
test results,
described
in Figure 1. This test allowed the rapid
screening
of surfactants
at room temperature
and
Specifically$
the
tmospheric pressure conditions.
effects
of differing
salinitylhardae~s
levels
and
the effects
of various hydrocarbons.on
a given foamNote
ing agent could be examined by this technique.
that the larger
the foam volume generated
at a given
rate,
the less ad~erse the effect
of a given hydrocarbon
on that
foaming
agent.
of a given
A more rigorous
test
was its performance
in porous media.
teat,
of testing,
the screening
c-re
Most tests
Ta>ia 4$ was developed.
foaming
For
this
agent
!evel
ac describad
in
were performed
long Berea cores of 300-600 pm2
in 0.305-wI (1.O-ft)
absolute
permeability.
Some tests were also parformed in cores of lengths of up to 1*22-m (6.0 ft).
pressure
drop
All teats were performed t constant
226 Wa/m (10 Psitft)t
conditions
of usually
ltbou~h pressure gradients
of up to 4524 kPa/m
were lso tested.
For screening
tests,
(200 pai/ft)
ither humidified
ir or humidified
nitrogen
war
Moat screening
tests
were
used s the gas phase.
terminated
t less than 300 hours duration,
lthough
This test provided
to 500 hours.
some were extended
of saLinity/hardnesst
waterflood
for the examination
residual
oil saturation,
pressure
gradient/velocityt
nd wattability
effects
on foam performance.
The final level of testing
examined foaming
agent performance
at reservoir
conditioi
- as
described
in Table 2 and Figur~s 2 and 3. Unlike
screening
tests,
these tests
were performed at constant velocity
conditions
ranging from about
to 6.1 m/day (20 ft/day).
0.15 m/day (0.5 ft/day)
Incremental
pressure
drops were recorded along cores
t selected
distances
from the injection
faca, usully across 7+62-cm (3.O:in.)
long segments of each
core, as illustrated
in Figures 2 and 3. Meet of
after 300 hours of
these tests were terminated
ArI in screening
core tests,
all injected
injection.
gases wsrs humidified
with water so as to minimize
drying of foam.
Reservoir
condition
testing
allowed
on foamj of gas comthe examination
of the effects
etc,, in addition
position,
temperature,
pressurej
to the effects
studied
in the screening
core tests.
For these sets of reservoir
conditions,
a restoredsc~!.a San Andres dolomite core (West Texas C02) and
enriched
gas) were thought to
Serea cores (Canadian
nettability
condibe suitable
models of reservoir
tions,
the comparison of screening
core
the absolute
core permeabilities
varied
by more than 100 pm2, effective
air or nitrogen permeabilities
were normalized
to either
the
absolute
brine permeability
or the oil permeability
t SUI for aach core,
The normalized
or relative
test
To si;nplify
data where
SP% 19691
Figures
8-10.
the reservoir
comparison.
of Hydrocarbons
with romatic
hydrocarbon
7.
These results
implied
that
the alkane ctiinponent domin~ced the ffect
aromatic/alkane
mixture
had on foams generated
Alipal CO-128.
this
particular
foaming gent,
sunwnerized
in
Figure
ia
that
the
with
of oil
on Alipal
CD-128
To confirm the effects
foama, series
of screening
core tests
was conducted using 0.305-m
(l.O-ft)
long Berea cores t A
residual
oil saturation.
waterflood
These results
agents
F. B. SUFFRIDOZ,K. T
3PE 19691
b~o foaming
tion.
gent
for
specific
reservoir
RATMMAN~
tpplica-
number
residues
would not be expected
to many surfactant
systems.
~f:cts
to
show severe
of Wettabiiity
Gradient/Velocity
tTffects
It was recognised
early that foam texture
has a
effect
on the mobility
of foam in porous
media.g
Furthert
it was recognized
that under
steady-state
flow condition,
bubble sizeio affectad
foam mobility
and that the dynamics of foam bubble
formatf;n
controlled
foam texture
in porous
edia.
For the data included
in this paper, all
foams were generated
under unsteady-state
flow conditions
with no attempt made to separate
the effects
of the dynamics of foim formation
from foam rheological properties.
It was recognized
that under
unsteady-state
would be
Jnditions,
foam texture
changing with gas throughput,
dynamic and constantly
However,
it was observed in the data to be presented
that the effect
of foam on gas mobility
with gas
throughput
was relatively
consistent
over large volumes for a given set of core test conditions.
For
discussion,
the terms of
purposes of the following
shear thickening
and shear thinning
will be used s
descriptive
terms to describe the stabilized
behavpronounced
under
unsteady-stat,~
condi-
Higher pressure
gradients
and resulting
highar
velocity
(higher
qhaar rate)
conditions
modified
the
ability
of frims
to reduce gas permeability.
Varion
CAS foama generated
with nitrogen
in screeninc core
te-ts
showed shear thickening
characteristic,
s
t higher
indicated
by reduced nitrogen
permeability
s shown in Figure
11. Thie charactershear rates,
istic
was lso observed
at reservoir
condition
using the enriched
gas mixture,
aa shown in
Figura 12. The opposite
effect,
that of ohear thinning, was shown by foams ganeruted
in screening
core
tests using nitrogen
and Enordet X2101, as shown hi
Figure 13. Velocity
was over 1,219 miday
(4,000 ftldayi
at the endpoint of the4tS24kPa/m
(200 psi/ft)
test and an effective
foam still
existed.
Although neither
characteristic
was
adverse
to foam pe-Tormexpected to be practically
ante away from the wellbore,
thickening
or tiinning
ok sear
behavior could confound the interpretation
in an injection
well
test.
well performance
adversity
G. C. RUSSELL
reduced
nitroAlthough these foams effectively
en permeability
for large throughput
volumes
f 2500 pore volumes t 1,810 kPa/m (80 psi/ft)],
t such high gradients
showed the
foams ~enerated
@xp@ct?d trend of Wch shorter
lifeti~s
on an beeLute time scale.
In ? dditional
test? illustrated
in
Figure
14,
pressure
gradients
of
i,131-1,810
kPa/m (50-80 psi/ft)
resulted
in ever
8500 pore volumes of nitrogen
injection
throush
foam.
ffffactive
nitrogen
permeability
reduction
remained throughout
the 149 hour lifetime
of this
test.
Had foam not been preeent,
nitrogen
pe~ability
would have been expected to be t least
150 ~z.
Further,
effective
foama have been generted at very low velocities
of about 0.1S mfday
(0.S ft/day)
in 50 pm2 dolomite cores.
I%US foa
generation
is practical
over very wide range of
velocity/pressure
gradient
conditions.
Foam at Reservoir
Conditions
FOAM
-.
PERPORMANcE
UNDER RMBRVOIR
ACNNOULKDCEIIENT
The authors
thank the manageme~.c of the Amoco
?roduction
Company for the privilege
of publishing
Our gratitude
is lso extended to
this information.
C, R. Chadwell, 1, M. Cook, J. ?4: Corgan, D. S.
Denham, S. Hendricks and R. Walters for performing
the laboratory
experiments.
REFERENCES
.
1.
2,
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
of
Tiffin~
D. L. and Yellig,
W. F.) %ffects
Mobile Water on Multiple
Contact Miscible Gas
Displacements,
SPEJ, June 1983, pp. 447-455.
8.
9*
Eerligh!
J. J. P.,
Marsden, S. S., Jr.,
Albrecht,
R. A. and David, A*) Use of Foam in
Proceedings
of the Sev~
Petroleum Opevations$
enth World Petroleum Congress,
Mexico City,
April 2-7, 1966, Elsevier,
Essex, England~
vol.
3, pp. 235-242.
OBSERVATIONSANDCONCLUSIONS,
Injection
well field tests of foam at these two
of reservoir
conditions
(West Texas C02 and
Canadian hydrocarbon miscible)
have been successfully performed with the foaming agents selected.
In each field tes$lcase,
measurable
injectivity
occurreil.=t
is concluded
from this
reductions
study that reservoir
condition
testing
is a necessary part of the evaluation
procesz in selecting
reservoir
application.
foaming agents for a specific
A number of observations
concerning
foam behavior
are relevant:
sets
1.
2,
3.
4.
5.
Effective
foama can be generated
in oil-wet
porous medii$ however, it is thou~-,t that careful selection
of foaming agent w~i be required
generate
foam in an
in order to successfully
oil-wet
environment.
CONDITIONS
Character~,
Lo.
A. ,.,
Must.era, J. J. and Ratulowski,
Falls,
J., The Apparent Viscosity
of Foams in Beadpacke, BPE Reservoir
Engineering,
Hay 1989)
pp. 155-164.
11,
Falls,
A. H., et al.,
Development of Mechanistic Foam Simulator:
The Population
Balance and
Generation
by Snap-off,
SPE Reservoir
Engineering,
August 1988, pp. 884-892.
SPE 19691
TAtL12
2
lescewir
Typical
Apparent
~ming
AliPal
Ag*nt
CO-128
PraduetDa-criptiom
supplier
dnlc.nic-st~oxy
l~ted
CAQCorporation
lcohol sulfate,
wmnonium salt
Enordat
Zonyl
Varion
X2101
FSK
Shetl
Chemimi CO,
OuPc.nt Company
GAS
Sherex
@:C~Cyi
fonatc,
sodium
Pluorlnattd
ChemlceL
Co.
( 10,342
kPa)
35h
TypkeL
lUl-
salt
Amphoteric
Anphoceric-Coco
~ocmmion:EenAndtesDolomite
1.16 1#
Avcra~ePermeabiLLtyl
10.JX
t~l
Avera#e POre#i
Mole.16t
,
352
Tam~t&ture8
105 F (40.6C)
Opereting
Presaurel
1S00 p8ic
Anionic-Ethoxylated
lcohol
Teat Condition8
mine-
propyt sultobecelne
Can6dlan
Forutienl
Avcrege
Avara~e
809
ws
Flood:
Giluood
SendsCone
Pecmcabi 1 i t y:
600 paz
Porositgl
15.5%
Tcmpereturel
3,70
lhwiched
135 P (57.2C)
OpcratincPce#9ure! Zooop~ig
Composition!
Solvent
Mit rofpn
7.84 MOICz
>0.37
0.37
1S.06
Mwhene
~er~ m Oioxide
Kthene
PrOpcna
n-~utane
13.93
B.36
n-P*n:en8
4.07
m
mol.
TABLE 3
ScregninS
Core Tsst
Conditions
Techniqug
Un6tea6y-Stete
Ion
COZ Flood
Cae Flood
sodium
40,310
32,062
1.
400 psie
Celcium
11,600
13,600
2.
$urfactent-filled
-- mey or My
Ilecnesium
Chloride
2,800
(2,7S8
kPa)
not
Sulfate
900
(689 kPe)
sbseluto
J.
2-in.
h.
Wumidifiad
(S. OB-cm)
9B
5.
?SF (23.9c)
lJ2 or
waterflood
diamet*r
Air
x 12-in.
Glass Column
Foam
PROCEDURE:
Surfactant
Solution
1.
15 cc wrfactant soiution
2.
5 cc oil
Frit
3* foam height
Hydrator
Alr
Pump
4.
QJ
Figure1. BulkFoamTesI Appara!us
(30.S
cm)
t Cmwtant AP D 10 pei
1,100
OH
pressure
core
contain
79,100
580
100 psie
2;223
90,100
DienrbOnat*
or
lcn~th Berea
(69 kPe)
,,
SPE 19691
40.6% {105?)
Tompersture:
10,342 kPa (1500 pelg)
Preaeum:
Tempsraturw
Core Deecrtptton:
ComooeftmSan Andrea dolomtto
100.$cc la Vohmle
dla x 78-era (314n.) length
3.53=cmr1.18-in.)
%nH!%%-m9isiBdmk=m,
Inlit SectIon:
,d
Middle Section:
End Section:
59.2V (135P)
i
~
~
Middle
Inlet
Exit
Inlet
II
Middle
11
Exit
6.4 cm
15.2 cm
{1
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/
I
60-
40-
With Oil
------
/
20-
No 011
/
/
/
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1
Gas Flowrate,cc/rein
Figure4. BulkFoamStablllty.0,0568MZonyl FSK, West Texas Separator Crude
640
*
.,
19691
SPE
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O.owol
k ----\ \__-
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NoPoam
water-wet
-
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WIlon-Treeted
------
G--
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O.00001
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13E@icl
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No Foem
.
We?er-Wet
Quilon-Treeted
-----
\,
-Y
lm
10
mm, houre
1-
Tkne, houre
CD-128
Foam
lm
9. AJiiI
_/-
-~
Fgwe
/---__---
-- \
,-FI
1
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No oil Preeent
O.ml
0.-
0.1
Fwre
Al@
CD-128
Foam
30
Pf /-//J!
----
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a
10
L+
I
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/
0
50
mll-She&Thidmnmaf
EzEiiEl
-~
226 kl%lm
4S24 kWm
------
0.61 mhtey
valimcAsFoams@Sm
_---%
_------
150
Pore Volumee injected
100
------
--
.-
_--*----
1
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--
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P.V.Throughftut
Fii
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SPE
19691