Experimental Study of Hysteresis behavior of Foam Generation in Porous Media

Experimental Study of Hysteresis behavior of Foam Generation in Porous Media

Kahrobaei, S.S. (TU Delft Reservoir Engineering)
Vincent-Bonnieu, S.Y.F. (TU Delft Reservoir Engineering; Shell Global Solutions International B.V.)
Farajzadeh, R. (TU Delft Reservoir Engineering; Shell Global Solutions International B.V.)

2017-12-01

Foam can be used for gas mobility control in different subsurface applications. The success of foam-injection process depends on foam-generation and propagation rate inside the porous medium. In some cases, foam properties depend on the history of the flow or concentration of the surfactant, i.e., the hysteresis effect. Foam may show hysteresis behavior by exhibiting multiple states at the same injection conditions, where coarse-textured foam is converted into strong foam with fine texture at a critical injection velocity or pressure gradient. This study aims to investigate the effects of injection velocity and surfactant concentration on foam generation and hysteresis behavior as a function of foam quality. We find that the transition from coarse-foam to strong-foam (i.e., the minimum pressure gradient for foam generation) is almost independent of flowrate, surfactant concentration, and foam quality. Moreover, the hysteresis behavior in foam generation occurs only at high-quality regimes and when the pressure gradient is below a certain value regardless of the total flow rate and surfactant concentration. We also observe that the rheological behavior of foam is strongly dependent on liquid velocity.

OA-Fund TU Delft

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:e2344d4b-2b9a-444e-965f-f395f64ca18c

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-09589-0

2045-2322

Scientific Reports, 7 (1), 1-9

Institutional Repository

journal article

© 2017 S.S. Kahrobaei, S.Y.F. Vincent-Bonnieu, R. Farajzadeh