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The Effect of Foam Stability on Foam

Flooding Recovery
a a a b c
L. Sun , B. Wang , W. Pu , H. Yang & M. Shi
a
State Key Laboratory of Oil and Gas Reservoir Geology and
Exploitation of Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu, China
b
Da Gang Oil Field Company of China National Petroleum
Corporation, Tianjin, China
c
Yu Men Oil Field Company of China National Petroleum
Corporation, Jiuquan, China
Published online: 08 Dec 2014.

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To cite this article: L. Sun, B. Wang, W. Pu, H. Yang & M. Shi (2015) The Effect of Foam
Stability on Foam Flooding Recovery, Petroleum Science and Technology, 33:1, 15-22, DOI:
10.1080/10916466.2014.922100

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 Petroleum Science and Technology, 33:1522, 2015
Copyright 
C Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
ISSN: 1091-6466 print / 1532-2459 online
DOI: 10.1080/10916466.2014.922100

The Effect of Foam Stability on Foam Flooding Recovery

L. Sun,1 B. Wang,1 W. Pu,1 H. Yang,2 and M. Shi3
1
State Key Laboratory of Oil and Gas Reservoir Geology and Exploitation of Southwest Petroleum
University, Chengdu, China
2
Da Gang Oil Field Company of China National Petroleum Corporation, Tianjin, China
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3
Yu Men Oil Field Company of China National Petroleum Corporation, Jiuquan, China

The former studies have largely covered the factors affecting foam stability rather than the effect of foam
stability on foam flooding. The authors present the results of a laboratory study of polymer enhanced
foam flooding, including different gas/liquid ratio, injection time, and foam drainage half time t1/2 , and,
additionally, the foaming stability comparison of common and enhanced foam under high pressure. The
results showed that polymer can highly strength foam stability, the foam which t1/2 was 24 min with
the gas\liquid ratio of 2:1 at the moment of water cut reached 95% received the most oil incremental
volume.

Keywords: enhanced oil recovery, foam drainage half time, foam flooding, foam stability, polymer
enhanced foam

INTRODUCTION

The initial water flooding suffered by the discrepancy of oil and water received unsatisfactory oil
recovery, leaving great potential of enhancing final oil recovery. Foam, which is considered an
impressive profile control agent, can substantially decrease water phase mobility, enlarging the
extended water sweep area. Of all properties, foam stability is vital for enhancing final oil recovery
(Sunmonu and Onyekonwu, 2013). Previous researches have proved that oil volume would break the
balance on foam film because the surfactant space is replaced by oil drop (Schramm, 1994; Simjoo
and Zitha, 2013). Assuming that adding some particles such as polymer into foaming solution can
enhance foam strength and prolong the foam drainage half time t1/2 (Alargova et al., 2004). Pei
(2010) found that an appropriate gas/liquid ratio played an important role in the raise of oil volume.
However, little research has been done on the contrast of common foam and polymer enhanced foam
under different pressure, furthermore, no data have found the relationship between the half-time of
foam and the oil recovery, how different residual oil saturation affected final oil recovery as well.
The objective of this study was to investigate some new parameters that affect foam stability
by core flooding experiments. Through recording the composition in the producing fluid under
different conditions, instantaneous water cut and recovery were utilized to quantify the capacity
of foam flooding. The enhanced foam and common air foam volume was compared under high
pressure.

Address correspondence to L. Sun, State Key Laboratory of Oil and Gas Reservoir Geology and Exploitation of Southwest
Petroleum University, Chengdu, China. E-mail: 449596313@qq.com
Color versions of one or more of the figures in the article can be found online at www.tandfonline.com/lpet.

15
 16 L. SUN ET AL.

APPARATUS AND PROCEDURE

Materials

Oil sample was collected from the Da Gang oil field, China. Its viscosity is 14.5 cP at 89 C under
150 bar. The foam agent, which was synthesized in laboratory, was named as HC. Another chemical
agent, which is a kind of polymer and was named as WP, was applied to enhance foam stability.
During the whole process, the concentration of HC and WP was 0.15% and 0.2%, respectively. Air
was used as a gas phase in all foam tests. The artificial sandstone cores were applied to perform the
experiments. ISCO pump was designed to push fluid into cores. A stainless core-holder was utilized
to conduct the whole process of water flooding, foam injection, and the extended water flooding in
a heat oven. The high-pressure reactor was applied to form foam and observe the foam volume. The
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air flow was regulated by a gas mass flow controller.

Foaming Ability and Foam Stability Measurements

In this study, the agitating method was utilized to measure the foam volume and the foam t1/2
to evaluate the foam stability. We investigated both common and enhanced foam under different
pressures ranging from 1 to 200 bar. The larger foaming volume and the longer duration of t1/2
indicate the better performance of the foaming agent.

Procedures

First, the permeability of the core in the presence of formation brine was measured, and then the oil
was injected into the core. After that, water-flooding was conducted until the oil production reached
the asked level. Then 1 PV foam slug was injected, followed by an extended water-flooding under a
steady back pressure, which is 150 bar. The whole schematic of the experimental apparatus can be
seen in Figure 1.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Foaming Ability and Foam Stability

The foam stability, which is evaluated by foam volume and half-life time t1/2 , is the main factor
affecting blocking ability of the foam in porous media. Figure 2 shows the foaming volume and t1/2
contrast of polymer-enhanced foam and common foam.
The t1/2 of both enhanced foam and common foam increases with the pressure increasing while the
foaming volume first increases then decreases. It suggested that pressure can improve the enhanced
foam stability, resulting in the increase of t1/2 . However, too-high pressure can press the foam volume.
In contrast of the two kinds of foam, in the low-pressure period the volume of enhanced foam is
much smaller than common foam, while in the high-pressure scope, enhanced foam is almost the
same as the common foam.
The polymer named as WP is responsible for this difference: in the low-pressure condition, owing
to its high intensity, the polymer hindered the foaming process, but pressure can also decrease the
polymer volume at the same time affect the foaming agent. Because of the high strength of polymer
 EFFECT OF FOAM STABILITY 17
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FIGURE 1 Schematic of experimental apparatus for foam flooding.

FIGURE 2 The comparison of foaming volume and t1/2 of common and enhanced HC foam under 89 C and
different pressure.
 18 L. SUN ET AL.

TABLE 1
Summary of Core Flooding Tests

Initial Gas\ Foam Half Water Cut Water Flood Tertiary Final
Run Porosity, Permeability, Oil Liquid Drainage Time, When Injecting Recovery, Recovery, Recovery,
No. % mD Saturation,% Ratio min Foam %IOIP %IOIP %IOIP

1 25.3 112 78.5 3:1 24 95% 43.56 16.42 59.98

2 26.8 108 77.9 2:1 24 95% 41.41 32.35 73.76
3 26.1 126 76.3 1:1 24 95% 38.19 39.79 77.98
4 25.6 94 75.8 3:2 24 95% 46.27 29.55 75.82
5 24.1 85 77.1 2:1 24 40% 24.22 45.42 69.64
6 24.9 97 80.3 2:1 24 80% 31.75 46.77 78.52
7 24.5 103 79.7 2:1 24 95% 48.39 29.04 77.43
8 25.5 115 80.9 2:1 18 95% 28.3 30.33 58.63
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9 23.8 101 76.9 2:1 24 95% 31.11 36.7 67.81

10 24.6 90 77.8 2:1 34 95% 37.66 31.01 68.67

that can be scattered on the foam film, the t1/2 of enhanced foam is much longer than the common
foam, and, furthermore, with the rise of pressure, the discrepancy becomes larger.

Core Flood Study

To assess the recovery of foam flooding for improving the effect of the initial water flooding, 10
flood tests were conducted in cores. The properties of the cores and oil recovery of every stage are
summarized in Table 1.

Effect of Gas/Liquid Ratio on Foam Flooding

Four core flood tests (Runs 14) were carried out by injecting foam with different gas/liquid radio
(GLR), ranging from 2:3 to 3:1. The water cut curves of four flooding tests are presented in Figure 3.

FIGURE 3 Instantaneous water cut curves of four gas/liquid ratio tests (runs 14).
 EFFECT OF FOAM STABILITY 19
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FIGURE 4 Recovery curves of three residual oil saturation tests (runs 57).

The recovery curve of GLR of 2:1 climbs with the injection of foam, and simultaneously the
other three curves do not change the same as the GLR of 2:1. In regard to water cut curves, though
the other three curves descend, the water cut curve of GLR of 2:1 slumps dramatically and keeps
the period of low water cut longer than others, which is responsible for the most incremental oil
volume, indicating the most significant stability under experimental conditions.

Effect of Residual Oil Saturation on Foam Flooding

Three tests were conducted by injecting foam at different instantaneous water cut across 40%, 80%,
and 95%, and the corresponding residual oil saturation is 75%, 68%, and 50%, respectively. Figures 4
and 5 are the recovery and water cut curves of three different residual oil saturation.

FIGURE 5 Instantaneous water cut curves of three residual oil saturation tests (runs 57).
 20 L. SUN ET AL.
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FIGURE 6 Recovery curves of three foam t1/2 tests (run 8 to run 10).

The change of the recovery and water cut curves of residual oil saturation (Sor ), which is 68%, is
more dramatic than other two conditions. The reason for this outcome can be explained as follows:
the remaining oil volume in the core 5 where the residual oil saturation is 75% is more than other
two cores, triggers the defoaming phenomenon of the injected foam and the single function of
surfactant flooding, which lowers the oil-water intension, and, accordingly, the final recovery is
inferior to the others. As to the Sor of 50%, both of water and oil spare the same space in the cores,
the oil in high-permeability channel is almost recovered, there remains much more water, and the
foam that receives the property of selective blocking can force water divert to the low-permeability
channel to sweep more oil, resulting a higher final oil recovery; an Sor of 68% indicates that proper
oil saturation can accelerate foam functioning, but nevertheless the production duration is shorter,
making the final oil recovery is the same as the Sor of 68%. Therefore, from the point of prolonging
production duration and enhancing the final recovery, we chose the condition which water cut is
95% to start foam injection.

Effect of Foam t1/2 on Foam Flooding

Three tests were designed to study at the condition that the foam systems viscosity are all 31.5 cP
in 89 C, while its t1/2 is 18, 24, and 34 min resulted from the different HC weight concentrations of
0.1%, 0.15%, and 0.2%, respectively. Figures 6 and 7 are the recovery and water cut curves of three
foam t1/2 .
The foam system which t1/2 is 18 min obtains a limited effect from the initial water flooding in
contrast to the t1/2 of 24 and 34 min, the incremental oil volume of t1/2 of 24 min is higher than
t1/2 of 34 min. As to the water cut curves, the t1/2 of 34 min forces the water cut collapse to around
50% and stabilizes longer than other two on account of its longest t1/2 , which can build the highest
resistance. However, the foam system of t1/2 of 24 min performs superior than other two systems. To
explain this, one reason might can be cited to justify this: by adding foam drainage half time from 18
to 24 min, resulting in enhanced foam stability, consequently, the superiority of foam can be applied
to sweep more oil owing to the unique properties of foam. Whereas once exceeding the appropriate
system t1/2 , the blockage function of foam also makes the flowing resistance in the low-permeability
 EFFECT OF FOAM STABILITY 21
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FIGURE 7 Instantaneous water cut curves of three foam t1/2 tests (runs 810).

channel high, causing the extended water flow into the relatively high-permeability channel. Based
on the previous analysis, we may safely come to a result that the effect of foam flooding can be
promoted by increasing foam drainage half time in a proper scope.

CONCLUSION

1. The foam volume and t1/2 of both common and polymer-enhanced foam ascended with the
increase of pressure; however, excessive pressure can decrease foaming volume. The polymer
utilized in the study and named as WP can dramatically enlarge foam t1/2 in contrast to the
common foam.
2. By increasing gas/liquid ratio from 3:2, 1:1, to 2:1, more oil was recovered and swept
by extended water; but on proceeding up to 3:1, which incremental oil was less than 2:1,
indicating that the most suitable gas/liquid ratio was 2:1 under this experimental condition.
3. Too much oil, for which residual oil saturation was 75%, would weaken foam stability and
cause inferior oil recovery, and the situations when residual oil saturations were 68% and 50%
received almost the same final oil recovery, which were 78.52% and 77.43%, respectively.
With the purpose of taking the prolonged production time into account, the optimized residual
oil saturation was 50%.
4. The incremental oil volume increased by lengthening the foam drainage half time from 18
to 24 min, but it decreased when the t1/2 proceeded to 34 min, for which a specific reason
would be imperative to be sought in later investigations.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The authors gratefully acknowledge the material support from Da Gang oil field of CNPC,
and the special fund of Chinas central government for the development of local colleges and
universitiesthe project of national first-level discipline in Oil and Gas Engineering.
 22 L. SUN ET AL.

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