Distinguished Author Series articles are general, descriptiverepresentations that

summarize the state of the art in an area of technology bydescribing recent

developments for readers who are not specialists in thetopics discussed. Written by
individuals recognized as experts in the area,these articles provide key references
to more definitive work and presentspecific details only to illustrate the technology.
Purpose: to informthe general readership of recent advances in various areas of
petroleumengineering.

Summary

The steam-foam process was developed to improve the sweep efficiency of

thesteamdrive and steam-soak processes. Steamdrives that are not stabilized
bygravity can have a poor vertical sweep efficiency as a result of (1) gravityoverlay
in a thick sand with vertical communication and/or (2) channeling in alayered
formation with poor vertical communication between sand members. Thereduced
mobility of steam foam increases the pressure, and gradient in thesteam-swept
region to displace the heated oil better and to divert steam to theunheated interval.
Surfactants reduce the steam mobility by stabilizing theliquid lamellae that cause
some or all of the steam to exist as a discontinuousphase. The propagation of
surfactant is retarded by ad sorption. In the phase.The propagation of surfactant is
retarded by ad sorption. In the case of ionexchange of divalent ions from the clays,
the surfactant is also retarded byprecipitation and/or partitioning into the oil. The
rate of propagation of foamis also determined by the mechanisms that generate
and destroy foam. Thegeneration mechanisms include leave-behind, snap-off, and
division. Thedestruction mechanisms include condensation and evaporation,
coalescence by alimiting capillary pressure, and coalescence resulting from the
presence ofoil. The foam texture can be predicted from a population balance that
includesthese mechanisms. predicted from a population balance that includes
thesemechanisms.