Foam Mobility Control for Surfactant Enhanced Oil Recovery

This paper (SPE 113910) was accepted for presentation at the SPE/DOE Symposium on Improved Oil Recovery, Tulsa, 20–23 April 2008, and revised for publication. Original manuscript received for review 12 February 2008. Revised manuscript received for review 24 November 2009. Paper peer approved 1 March 2010. Summary Foam generated in situ by surfactant-alternating-gas (SAG) injection is demonstrated as a substitute for polymer drive in the alkaline/surfactant/polymer (ASP) enhanced-oil-recovery (EOR) process. Foam is also effective in a similar process for a 266-cp crude oil, even though the system did not have enough polymer for favorable mobility control. Foam is shown to enhance sweep efficiency greatly in a layered sandpack with a 19:1 permeability ratio. Foam diverted surfactant solution from the high-permeability layer to the low-permeability layer. Ahead of the foam front, liquid in the low-permeability layer crossflowed into the high-permeability layer. A layered system with a 19:1 permeability contrast could be completely swept in 1.3 total pore volumes (TPV) with foam, while waterflood required 8 pore volumes (PV).

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