Operation Parameters on CO2-Foam process

Abstract

Reducing the mobility of CO₂ by means of generating in situ foam is an effective method for improving the oil recovery in CO₂ flooding processes. Implementation of the CO₂-foam technique typically involves the co-injection of CO₂ and surfactant solution into the porous medium. The surfactant molecules form bubble films that trap the flowing CO₂ molecules. The effectiveness of the CO₂-foam process is measured in terms of foam mobility. The mobility of CO₂-foam is affected by different operation parameters, such as pressure, temperature, foam quality, and brine concentration. However, surfactant type governs the overall efficiency of the CO₂-foam process. This paper presents the results of a series of experiments conducted to study the effect of various parameters on the CO₂-foam process. Bottle tests were conducted for four commercially available surfactants and among them, Chaser CD-1045 was found to be the most effective surfactant for CO₂-foam flow under reservoir conditions. It was observed that an increase in pressure from 1, 200 psi to 1, 500 psi leads to increase of the mobility of CO₂-foam, and an increase in temperature from 72 to 122°F reduces the mobility. Also, as the foam quality increases from 20 to 80%, the mobility decreases. It was observed that there was no significant effect on the mobility with an increase in brine concentration from 1 to 3 wt%.