Factors Influencing the Rheology of Methane Foam for Gas Mobility Control in High-Temperature, Proppant-Fractured Reservoirs
Gas-enhanced oil recovery (EOR) through huff-n-puff (HnP) is an important method of recovering oil from fracture-stimulated reservoirs. HnP productivity is hampered by fracture channeling, leading to early gas breakthroughs and gas losses. To mitigate these issues, foam-generating surfactants have b...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2024-02-01
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| Series: | Colloids and Interfaces |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2504-5377/8/1/13 |
| _version_ | 1797298579357827072 |
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| author | Aashish T. Parekh Amit Katiyar Quoc P. Nguyen |
| author_facet | Aashish T. Parekh Amit Katiyar Quoc P. Nguyen |
| author_sort | Aashish T. Parekh |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Gas-enhanced oil recovery (EOR) through huff-n-puff (HnP) is an important method of recovering oil from fracture-stimulated reservoirs. HnP productivity is hampered by fracture channeling, leading to early gas breakthroughs and gas losses. To mitigate these issues, foam-generating surfactants have been developed as a method of reducing injected gas phase mobility and increasing oil recovery. This work investigates foam generation and propagation by a proprietary surfactant blend in high-temperature, high-pressure, high-permeability, and high-shear conditions that simulate the environment of a proppant-packed fracture. Bulk foam tests confirmed the aqueous stability and foaming viability of the surfactant at the proposed conditions. Through several series of floods co-injecting methane gas and the surfactant solution through a proppant pack at residual oil saturation, the effects of several injection parameters on apparent foam viscosity were investigated. The foam exhibited an exceptionally high transition foam quality (>95%) and strong shear-thinning behavior. The foam viscosity also linearly decreased with increasing pressure. Another flood series conducted in an oil-free proppant pack showed that swelling of residual oil had no effect on the apparent foam viscosity and was not the reason for the inversely linear pressure dependency. An additional flood series with nitrogen as the injection gas was completed to see if the hydrophobic attraction between the methane and surfactant tail was responsible for the observed pressure trend, but the trend persisted even with nitrogen. In a previous study, the dependence of foam viscosity on pressure was found to be much weaker with a different foaming surfactant under similar conditions. Thus, a better understanding of this important phenomenon requires additional tests with a focus on the effect of pressure on interfacial surfactant adsorption. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T22:36:52Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c3505049eb834edaaada89c0508ee78d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2504-5377 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T22:36:52Z |
| publishDate | 2024-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Colloids and Interfaces |
| spelling | doaj.art-c3505049eb834edaaada89c0508ee78d2024-02-23T15:12:49ZengMDPI AGColloids and Interfaces2504-53772024-02-01811310.3390/colloids8010013Factors Influencing the Rheology of Methane Foam for Gas Mobility Control in High-Temperature, Proppant-Fractured ReservoirsAashish T. Parekh0Amit Katiyar1Quoc P. Nguyen2Hildebrand Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, 200 E. Dean Keeton Stop C0300, Austin, TX 78712, USAThe Dow Chemical Company, 230 Abner Jackson Pkwy/ECB/2A218, Lake Jackson, TX 77566, USAHildebrand Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, 200 E. Dean Keeton Stop C0300, Austin, TX 78712, USAGas-enhanced oil recovery (EOR) through huff-n-puff (HnP) is an important method of recovering oil from fracture-stimulated reservoirs. HnP productivity is hampered by fracture channeling, leading to early gas breakthroughs and gas losses. To mitigate these issues, foam-generating surfactants have been developed as a method of reducing injected gas phase mobility and increasing oil recovery. This work investigates foam generation and propagation by a proprietary surfactant blend in high-temperature, high-pressure, high-permeability, and high-shear conditions that simulate the environment of a proppant-packed fracture. Bulk foam tests confirmed the aqueous stability and foaming viability of the surfactant at the proposed conditions. Through several series of floods co-injecting methane gas and the surfactant solution through a proppant pack at residual oil saturation, the effects of several injection parameters on apparent foam viscosity were investigated. The foam exhibited an exceptionally high transition foam quality (>95%) and strong shear-thinning behavior. The foam viscosity also linearly decreased with increasing pressure. Another flood series conducted in an oil-free proppant pack showed that swelling of residual oil had no effect on the apparent foam viscosity and was not the reason for the inversely linear pressure dependency. An additional flood series with nitrogen as the injection gas was completed to see if the hydrophobic attraction between the methane and surfactant tail was responsible for the observed pressure trend, but the trend persisted even with nitrogen. In a previous study, the dependence of foam viscosity on pressure was found to be much weaker with a different foaming surfactant under similar conditions. Thus, a better understanding of this important phenomenon requires additional tests with a focus on the effect of pressure on interfacial surfactant adsorption.https://www.mdpi.com/2504-5377/8/1/13hydrocarbon foamconformance controlfractured reservoirsgas injectionpressure dependent rheology |
| spellingShingle | Aashish T. Parekh Amit Katiyar Quoc P. Nguyen Factors Influencing the Rheology of Methane Foam for Gas Mobility Control in High-Temperature, Proppant-Fractured Reservoirs Colloids and Interfaces hydrocarbon foam conformance control fractured reservoirs gas injection pressure dependent rheology |
| title | Factors Influencing the Rheology of Methane Foam for Gas Mobility Control in High-Temperature, Proppant-Fractured Reservoirs |
| title_full | Factors Influencing the Rheology of Methane Foam for Gas Mobility Control in High-Temperature, Proppant-Fractured Reservoirs |
| title_fullStr | Factors Influencing the Rheology of Methane Foam for Gas Mobility Control in High-Temperature, Proppant-Fractured Reservoirs |
| title_full_unstemmed | Factors Influencing the Rheology of Methane Foam for Gas Mobility Control in High-Temperature, Proppant-Fractured Reservoirs |
| title_short | Factors Influencing the Rheology of Methane Foam for Gas Mobility Control in High-Temperature, Proppant-Fractured Reservoirs |
| title_sort | factors influencing the rheology of methane foam for gas mobility control in high temperature proppant fractured reservoirs |
| topic | hydrocarbon foam conformance control fractured reservoirs gas injection pressure dependent rheology |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2504-5377/8/1/13 |
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