Oil-foam interactions in a micromodel
Year: 1997
Type: report
Abstract: This report presents results of a pore-level visualization study of foam stability in the presence of oil. Many laboratory investigations have been carried out in the absence of oil, but comparatively few have been carried out in the presence of oil. For a field application, where the residual oil saturation may vary from as low as 0 to as high as 40% depending on the recovery method applied, any effect of the oil on foam stability becomes a crucial matter. Sandstone patterns were used in this study. The micromodels used are two-dimensional replicas of the flow path of Berea sandstone etched on to a silicon wafer to a prescribed depth, adapting fabrication techniques from the computer chip industry. After flooding the models up to connate water and residual oil saturations, surfactant flood followed by gas injection to generate foam was done. Visual observations were made using a high resolution microscope and pictures were recorded on videotape before being processed as they appear in this report.
DOI: 10.2172/564009
Language: English
Subfield: Ocean Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W54937646