1 ...’ e.– -.

Wlxwc w, Dl=Kmn Kw
L. W. HOLM PURE OIL CO.
MEMBERS AIME CRYSTAL LAKE, ILL.
I

ABSTRACT recovery agent, Bopd and Holbrook 2 proposed ~hat ,

Laboratory expen”nrents were conduct ed
determine the e//ect of foam on gas flow in porous
media. Previous “studies have indicated that foam
may ‘be applicable as a restn’ct ive agent in influenc-
ing’ underground gas flow.
Foam was found to be exceedingly e~fectiue in
reducing tbe permeability of porous media to gas.
Consolidated and unconsolidated sands with specific
permeabilities of 100 to 146,000 md had, in the
presence of foam, gas permeabilities that were less
than 1 per cent of the specific permeability:
many cases the gas permetibility was practically
zero. Foam reduced the gas permeability of loose
I sand to a much greater degree than that of a tight
sand. For example, the permeability, of a 125,000- md
“ sand was reduced to 3 md while the, penneabilit y
.-
of a 4,00o.md sand was reduced to 7 rnd. This effect
,should cause, to some degree, “a selective plugging
of high permeability channels in various oil dis-
placement processes.
The presence of oil in a porous medium decreased
the effectiveness ‘~f foam in reducing gas permea-
bility; apparently oil acts as a” foa~ depressant.
Howeuer, “it was found that certain foaming agents
were v eiy effective in reducing permeability even,
in the presence. of oil. Ako, continuous injection
of other foaming ag’ents increased their effectiveness,
when oil was present.
Tbe effect of foam on permeability of porous
media to gas was studied as a function of foaming
agent concentration and injection rate, absolute
permeability, total pressure, pressure gradient,
length of porous system, brine concentration and
time.
.,.: INTRODUCTION
The use ‘of surface active agents in flood water
, to increase the recoveryof oil has been studied in
the laboratory and in the field for decades, with
rather Iirnited success. In recent years Q new
, approach to the ~problem, was proposed. Instead of
using an. aqueotis .s6.lu!ion. of surfac_rant as an oil.
the oil recovery agent be a mixture of surfactant
I
to ‘ solution and gas, In their method, a water-soluble
surface active agent with foam-producing chsracter-
i sti cs is injected into an underground formation as
an aqueous slug. This slug is followed by gas to
produce a foam within the rock.
Fosms are defined as ‘tagglom&ations of gas
bubbles separated from each other by thin liquid
films’! A foam is fundamentally an unstable system.
The foam process fot oil reco:eryq has since been :
studied by other investigators. ● D
in Fried 1 has shown that foam can displace from
porotis structures oil that normally is unrecoverable
by conventional water or gas drives, This superior
oil displacing action is believed CObe the result of
several factors: (1) foam introduces into the
reservoir ‘many resilient .interf aces of various sizes
and curvatures, which increase the probability y that
a proper combination of forces-for oil displacement ,
will be created; (2) foam has appreciable viscosity
which improves mobility ratio and contact efficiency;
(3) foam accentuates the trapped gas effect because ,
high g?s saturations are possible without producing
high gas/oil ratios,
Demingq studied the effect of various foam
properties on the displacement of liq~id. He found
that (1) high foaming ability favors high, displacement
efficiemcfi (2) high foam stability is not nec~ssary
for high displacement efficiency; .(3) displacement
efficiency decreases with increas~ in plasticity of
foam and (4) displacement efficiency is unaffected
by siuface tension of foaming agent solution.
One of the important aspects of chis oil recovery
process is the effect of foam on gas permeability.
Thea simultaneous flow of gas and liquid in porous
med~a has been studied by numerous investigator.s
‘and a, large amount of literature. exists on the
subject. In this- previous, work, gas and liquid have
generally been considered as essentially independent
phases,. whose flow characteristics, are related
through the saturation parameter. Foam, however,
is a material with properties that are con sfderabl y
different from those of its components; for example,
the .viscositv. of .a foam is ~reater tham either of it$

Ori@nal manu&ript rei+ved h Society of Pefroleum Engineers pre~ence of foam should be considerably different
off Ice June 25, 1964, Revised msmuscripf received Aug. 17. ,’
Paper w be presented at SPE Annual Fall Meeting, to be held.
in Houston, Oct.11-14, 1964. z~eferefice=given atendof wpe~. .,

sEPTEMBER, 1964 ,.
 . [ ,,
●

,---- . . .. -. ..-.
f
from gas flow in the absence of foam. Out objective foam was generated witbin p core, then permeability
was to study the various aspects of this problem. of the core to gas was measured as a function of
A further objective of this study was to determine time at various pressure gradients (Figs. 2 and
r the stability of foam in a porous medium ‘under 3). This information is useful in evaluating foam
various conditions of pressure, porous medium stability in underground sands.
properties, fluid saturations and foaming agent LONG CORE EXPERIMENTS
concentrations, The results of this investigation
could then be used to evaluate foam as a restrictive The unconsolidated 30 ft long sand packs were
agent for influencing underground gas flow. initially saturated with a brine solution (1 or 10
per cent NaCl + 1 per cent CaC12 ). In some experi-
EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES ; Is

EQUIPMRNT AND MATERIALS 40

The experimental apparatus consisted of con-
solidated and unconsolidated sands~ wet test. 3s .. .?tl
meters, constant delivery pumps and high pressure (
nitrogen cylinders. 30
The porous media consisted of consolidated m
Berea sandstone cores (6 to 30 in. long); and 26- —- -
uncorrsolidated sand packs (1 to 30 ft long). The
Berea cores had permeiibilities of about 100 to 250 ko
md and porosities of 20 per cent. The sand packs
had permeabilities of 3,oOO to 150,000 md and
\ ‘ porosities of’ about 40 per cent. (Throughout his
report terms such as t CIOO-md sand” are used. ?
Such a term means that the porous medium has a 1o.-
dry nitrogen permeability of 100 red.)
Fluids used in the experiments were water, 1 or s- .Io”
11 per cent brines, aqueous solutions ,of foaming
agents, nitrogen gas. and a West Texas crude oil. 0 0
I
STEADY-STATE GAS PERMEABILITY 0 5-10152025
TIME IN DAYS
,‘ The Penn State method was used to determine
FIG, 2 — RATE OF FOAM’ BANK DECAY (SPECIFIC
gas permeability in the presence of foam. In this
PERMEABILITY OF SAND IS 4;000MD, SAND PACK
“; method gas and liquid were passed thiough the LENGTH 1S30 FT, PRESSURE GRADIENT IS5 PSI/FT,
porous medium simultaneously. “ Various flow SLOPE IS 1 MD/DAY, AND INLET PRESSURE IS 150
rates were used for each fluid and the saturations PSIG).
of gas and liquid in the medium were determined.
Saturations were determined by weighing the porous 90
medium. Gas permeability was determined as a
function of saturation in 4,000- and 146,000-md 6’0
sand packs and in 225-red Berea sandstone. Results
of these measurements are shown in Fig. 1.
FOAM STABILITY
To evaluate the decay of a foam bank in porous
media the following procedure was used. First 6qciio

50,000

1 $
i?Qooo .kom
g’” - -
a
m

s IOJ360 10
~e –x-—.&-- X
~s I ““-–—
. . -- wv PWM?ASILITY
4 .— –- — ---- o -?-+ 8 , , , *
o “
5 —. ()’ 1, g 3 4 s 6 7
2 --- -- -’
jTIME IN DAYS
.;
..._. a . ..,O .20 ,0 -FIQ;
-3-A- RATE-OF- FOAM;BANK -DE&lY-(SpECWIC .-: _:–!ti-”_:
GAS SATURATION, ●A PORi SPACE PERMEABILITY OF SAND IS 125,000MD, LENGTH,OF
SAND PACK IS30‘FT,PRESSURE GRADIENT IS5 PSI/

I FIG, 1 - EFFECTIVENESS OF ‘FO”AM ‘iNREDUCING FT, AND INITIALLY INJECTED 1 PORE VOLUME OF
GAS PERMEABILITY. ., I RER CENT FOAMING AGENT).
, . ,.
26s SOCIETY OF PETROLEUM ENGINEtlRS JbtJRNAL \
 . ● ,, ,
/ .,
— . . .
!

ments the brine saturated packs were driven to foam was very effective in reducing gas permea-
connate water with c~de oil and them water bility under such conditions. the auestion of how
flooded wid. brine solution to a residual oil foam”wou~d behave in much longer s~stems remained.
saturation of about 11 per cent pore volume. Gas to be answered. A series of experiments was
and foaming agent solution (water or brink contain- therefore performed in 30 ft long sand packs using
ing a surfactant) were ,injected simultaneously in a 150 psi pressure gradient at an inlet pressure-of
some experiments; in other experiments a slug of 150 psig. ,
foam solution was injected into the pack and Gas and foaming agent. solution weie’ injected
followed by gas. Inlet and outlet presstires were “aimulrnneously, and gas permeability was
controlled to maintain a constant pressure’ drop determined. The results of these experiments
across the core in all these ex~riments. Both subsrsntiared the following conclusions, previously
gas and liquid flow to and from the packs were d:wwn from the small scale experiments: (1) foam
measured to deterrhine saturations and permea- is exceedingly effective in reducing gas. permea.
bili ties. biliry of both high and low permeable sands; (2)
the trapped gas satyation is higher in the 120,000-
—. DISCUSSION OF RESULTS md sand than in the 4,000-md sand; and (3) in any
porous medium a foam ,bank can be ,maintained
The effect of foam on gas permeability was indefinitely if a sma 11 “vcdume of foaming agent
determined in various “porous media under a variety solution ii continuously or intermittently added
of conditions. Experiments were performed in 100- to .:
to die gas stream.
146,000-md cores upder steady-state and unsteady- It is especially interesting to note that a given
state conditions. The reported results apply
volume of foaming agent solution reduced the
strictly on Iy for the particu Iar foaming agent that ~ermeabi Ii&, ,~f a 125,000-md sand: to a greater
was used in these experiments; qualitatively, other degree than’chat of a 4,000-md sand (Figs. 4 and 5).
agent? behaved in a similar fashion.
Thus, the ““injection of solution at a rate of 0.17
STEADY-STATE PERMEABILITY IN bbl/day/sq ft reduced the gas permeability of a
SHORT AND LONG SYSTEMS 125,000-md sand to about 3 md while the gas
permeability of a 4,000-n]d sand was reduced to
Both gas and, foaming agent solutions were
about 7 md. In tfie first case the; permeability vtak
passed simultaneouady through cores and permea- reduced to 0.0024, per cent of the initial va”lue
bility was determined as a function of saturation. while in the second case the permeability. was
Results of these measurements are shown in Fig. reduced to 0,18 per cent of rhe initial value,
1. $= In considering the use of foam for any kind of oil
— Foam was exceedingly effective in reducing g~s recovery process que~:ions about aging and stability
permeability at ,.most gas saturations in ,porous of the foam naturally arise’. Once a foam bank
media of both small and large specific permeabilisies. is generated in a ‘rock, how long will it persist?
— Thus, with foam in the core, at 50 per cent gas
saturation, the gas permeabil$iea of the 225-red
—
.. Bel&a, 4,000-md sand pack and 146,000-md sand
pack were 1.5,,0.3 and 9 md, respectively; at 80
per cent gas saturation the pernfeabilities were
,6, 1.3 and O md, respectively. ,
Especially interesting ‘was \the observation that GAS SATURATION
------s%
the gteacerthe specific perm~ability of the porous
medium, the greater was the effectiveness of foam
in reducing gas ~ermeabi lit y. Thjs is cle@y shown —t—+--t-+””
in Fig. 1, where, gas permeability at all salutations
in 146,000-md sand is less than the gsa permeability
of a 225-red Berea, in the presence of foam. This
result “~s not entirely unexpected in view of foam
viscosity data presented by Fried. Friedl shows
thdt” the viscosity of a foam flowing in capillary
tubes increases. almost linearly as the diameter of
~#
-
the flow channel. One would expect that resistance
to flow would increase as specific permeability .
-9AS PEf flEABILiTY
I .,IJO
. and dverage ‘pore diamerer increased. This “effect 0.6 0.8 1.0 f’ 1.2 1.4 /
u
should cause, to some degrcez a selective plugging FOAMINf3 SOLUTION INkCTION
3
of high permeability channels; if foam is used in u RATE, BARRELS/OAY/SQ.FT.
U
I - conjunction with various oil displacement n
.
.Pc?ce??.?s:. ” ~_ .“ ____ ._ .: .-. ..: ... .. ::: . .. ... . _’ . - I?LG>4 .& FOAM. EEEECTISiENESS.IN tiDucING GAS..
- The forem~ntioned results were obtained on , PERMEABILITY OF 30 FT,SAND PACK AT ALL FOi%M-
short sand packs on which a Small absolute. ING SOLUTION JNJECTION RATES (SPECIFIC
PERMEABILITY. OF SAND IS 125,000ME AND INLET
pressure (about 20 psi) was impressed. While
PRESSURE IS 150 PSIG),
..
*SEPTEMBER, 1964
.,.
269
 .. ,,
*
..’
. c--- .

f
How will rhe gas permeability of the rock vary with experiment are shown in Fig. 2. In this case permea-
time? A number of experiments were carried out to bility increased linearly with time at a. rate of
obtain some answers to these questions. about 1 md/dsy. Thus at the end “of 27 days thq
The first series of experiments was carried out gas permeability waa 31 md, a value about 0.008 o’f
on a small scale in sand packs (1/2 x 12 in.) of the specific permeability. “This indicates that even’
various permeabilities. The ,procedue, in brief, in fairly permeable strata a foam bank can exist for
was to saturate the pack with foaming agent solution, relatively long periods of time.
then inject gas and measure gas permeability vs In the third experiment of this series a foam bank
time. was generated in a consolidated Berea core (30 in.
Restilcs of such experiments are shown in Fig. long, 110 md) and permeability was measured as a
6; which is a plot of elapsed time vs the ratio of function of time. The results of this experiment
gas permeability in the presence of foam, to are shown in Fig. 7. At pressure gradients of 4 to
specific permeability of the sand pack, Almost 20 psi/ft pe~eability remained at, O to 4 md for
all of these curves have two characteristics in
common: (1),as gas is injected, gas permeability
increases, then becomes constant for considerable
time . periods; and (2) irrespective of specific
permeability, ‘foam reduces gas permeability to
less than 0.01 of its initial value. owl
These dsta indicated that in long porous systems ~
it may be possible to maintain foam banks and
restrict gas mobility and permeability. A second
series of experiments was performed to obtain
more information about foam decay. A foam bank Goocl
was generated in a 30 ft long, 125, QO0-md sand
pack, and permeability was” determined as a
function of time, while a 150 psi pressure drop
was maintained , across the sand column. The
re&ults of ,f$s experiment are shown in Fig. 3. Gas 0.0,0001
permeability remained at about the 1,000-md level 100 1000
for six days, then the foam bank apparently collapsed TIME (MINI, ,
and permeability rose rapidly to 70,000 md.
This” experiment indicated that a foam bank FIG. 6 — STABILITY OF. FOAM IN HIGH- AND LOW-
PERMEABILITY SANDS (% x 12-IN.
SAND PACKS! 5 PSI/
cannot be maintained for long time periods in FT PRESSURE GRADIENT).
‘extreniely permeable strata without periodic
O-J
addition of foam ‘solution.
In a second experiment of this type: a foam bank
was generated in a 30 ft long, 4,000-~d sand pack
and” permeability was measured as a: function. of
time, while a 150 psi gas pressure dr+p was main-
tained across the sand column. The results of this

Lu
a
o
a

.E! FOAklN13 SOLUTION tNJECTlO~f

RATE, BAdRELS/DAY/Sf#FT. \
.. TIME IN DAYS
FIG.-i‘-=-EFFE”&TtiNE&- & l?tiA&tT l?EDUClNG- --FIG. 7-RATE “OF-DECAY OF FOAM-”13ANK-INBEREA’ --- -
GAS PERMEABILITY OF 30 FT SAND~PACK AT ALL SANDSTONE (SPECIFIC PERMEABILITY IS 110 kb,
FOAMING SOLUTION INJECTION RA’I?ES(SPECIFIC LENGTH OF CORE IS 30 IN,,INITIALLY INJECTED 1 ‘
PERMEABILITY OF ‘SAND IS 4,000 MD AND INLET PORE VOLUME OF 1 PER CENT FOAMING AGENT
PRESSURE IS 150 PSIG). SOLUTION).

S70 SOCIETY OF PETRO”Lt3UM ENGINEERS JOURNAL

 ,.
●

—. —.
I ,“

22 days. When the pressure drop was increased to containing various concentra’rions of foaming agent
40 psi/ft, the foam bank broke down and gas solution, was determined at several gas saturations
permeability rose rapidly CO90 md. (Fig. 9).
The following conclusions can be drawn from The data show that at gas saturations up to 50
these results: (1) foam’ stability increases as per cent, foams made frbm solutions containing 0.01,
specific permeability of the porous body decreases; 0.1 or 1 per cent surface active agent all reduce
and (2) in porous structures with ,permeabilities the gas permeability of a 3,~90-md sand to less
less than 1 darcy, it should be possible to generate than 1 md. At higher gas saturations the permea-
and maintain a foam bank for long time periods. bility to gas decreases as syrface active agent
concentration increases, Itmust be noted, however,
RESISTANCE 6F FOAM TO GAS FLOW , that at all saturation values that were tested even
AT VARIOUS PRESSURE DROPS the di Iute 0.01 per cent solution redqped the gas
‘ In considering foam as a plugging agent it is permeability of a 3,890-md core to less than 12
necessary to know its resistance to high-pressure md. This indicates that even ‘dilute foaming agent
, gradients. A series of experiments was performed solutions can generate foam which for most practical
to obtain” this information. Foam was found to be purposes will block gas flow.
remarkably resistant to relatively high pressure EFFECT OF FOAMING AGENT CONCENTRATION
gradients (Fig. 8), es~ecially in lower permeability AND FOAMING AGENT SOLUTION INJECTION
-, ssnds. ,Thus in 3,000-md sand fosm held up at a RATE ON GAS PERMEA~ILITY AND SATURATION
f ~ pressure gradie t of 50 psi/ft and “even in 100,000-
A series of measurements was made on a 3,890-
md sand fw-m [ eld up at a pressure gradient of 25
psi/ft. Both of these pressure gradients are well l?
above pressure gradients encountered in oil and
gas reservoirs. lo-
I I I
1 I 9 I
iiolwowe
,... AW!NT
8- . . .— /’
FOAMING AGENT CONCENTRATION *
AND GAS P.l%RMEABILITY /
6-

4- /,
Various properties of interfaciaI films, such 0.1%?OMMN@
AO~NT
a,s surface ‘viscosity, stability, and strength, vary i?. ,
/ \
l.&&oA~

with the concentration of surface active agent. Since o I

foam is composed of such interracial films it is o 10 70’ SO SOIW

reasonable so. “expect that,, surface active agent OAS SAWRATION , % PORE SPACE

concentration wiIl affect resistance of foam to gas FIG, 9 — DECREASE IN IGAS PERMEABILITY WITH
flow. To settle this point a series of experiments INCREASE IN FOAMING AGENT CONCENTRATION
was carried out in which gas permeability of sands, (SPECIFIC PERMEABILITY OF SAND IS3,S90MD AND,
PRESSURE GRADIENT IS 20 PSI/FT). ‘

16

14
,
12

10

.2.

.-.:,.
;..
.—
..-
_
0 3, 6 9:, 12 15 ‘la z
c
FOAMING AGENT SOLUTION INJECTION RATE,
,,,
!. BBLS/DAY/SQ,F?.
.’,’
& . ..... ......- .. ..-.

1“:
.“ -1 . . .. ...- . ..-....-’. :
,--::-.; -~IG; l& - -INeREASE--INwik +ERMEABILI-TY AND
9ATURATION ,AS FOAMING AGENT SOLUTION INJEC-
3 FIG, S — EFFECTS oF PBEs5URE GRADIENTS IN TION RATE DECREASES (SPECIFIC PERMEABILITY
HIGH- AND LOW-PERMEABILITY SANDS (FOAMING OF SAND IS 3,S90”
MD AND PRESSURE GRADIENT. IS
$GENT SOLUTION INJECTED AT 0.63B/D/SQ FT). 20 PSI/FT).
sri
1 SEPTEMBER, 1964 : .
 — .,/. . . ---1 --*--. -----
t- C
..
md sand pack maintained under a gas pressure foa~ing agent concentration a~~reas~a. At higher
gradient of 20 psi/ft, in which foaming agent solution injection rates, foaming agent concentration
solutions of varioua concentrations were injected does not greatly affect foam density.
into the core at several rates (Fig. 10). OUZresults
EFFECT OF FOAM ON GAS SATURATION
show that,for three agent concentrations (0.01, 0.1
and 1 per cent), at solution injection rates of 0.3 Since foam greatly affects gas permeability it
to 20 ?3/D/sq ft, gas permeability remained at seems reasonable to expect that it might S,lSOaffect
or near zero. This is especially remarkable since g~s saturation. This point was investigated in
gas saturation was varied from 30 to 77 per cent. several dynamic relative permeability runs; the
In normal two-phase flow gas permeability rises results are shown in Fig. 12. In these runs ~
sharply as gas saturation increases. ,conscant pressure gradient was maintained across
the sand pack; foaming agent solution or plain
EFFECT .Ol?FOAMING AGENT CONCENTRATION water was in jetted at several rates, whi Ie a
AND INJECTION RATE ON GAS/LIQUID
RATIO IN FOAM
constant gas pressure was ‘maintained at the inlet
face ,of the core, gas saturat~on and gas permeability “
Foam density can vary over very wide limits were measured. It was found tks t when foam was
since it depends on the ratio of gas volume to present in a core under a given pressure gradient,
liquid volume. A stqdy w’as made of the “effect, of tbe water and gas saturations in the core “were the
foaming agent concentration on this ratio. The same as in the normal case where there was no
experiments were carried out by impressing a foam. Thus foam has essentially no effect on gas
constant gas pressure gradient acress a sand pack saturation. However at a given gas saturation,
and simultaneously injecting foaming agent solutions permeability to gas in the presence of foam was
of various concentration at various rates (Fig. 11); much less than permeability in
Our results show that ac solution injection races ,. -~e absence of foam.
greater than 3.4 B/D/sq ft. the ratio of “gas to EFFECTIVENESS OF FOAM IN
Iiquld volume in the core effluent is essentially PRESENCE OF BRINE AND OIL ‘
,,
zero for foaming agent concentrations of 0.01,
0.1 and 1 per cent. At an injection rate. of 2.7 In simple shakitig - tests it was observed that
B/D/sq ft, the ratio is zero for 0.1 and 1 per cent brine and oiI acted as foam depressants. Aa both
concentrate cm snd about 5 for 0.01 pet cent con- liquids would be encountered in underground gas
centration. At a solution injection rate of 0.34 flow, it was desirable to know what effect they
B/D/sq ft, the’ ratio is zero for 1 per cent concentra- would have on the ability of foam to reduck gas
tion, 11 for 0.1 per cent concentration snd 78 for permeability. The long sand packs were used to
0..01 per cent concentration. “ deteqnine the effects of brine andoi~.
In summary, it appears that at very low foaming In the 4,000-md sand pack containing only fresh “
solution injecrion rates foam density decreases as
-~ ~

g I I I I I I I I I I 1 I 1
7n11’11”1 II I -J I , 1 I I i . .

,,
~ 60 +t I 1
1
I I I
i
,-
..!
,--
E

;, I 1– 1%1 I t I , , ,
, I -i z

,-w , , u.
1 ! ( I I 1
~ T-E+=F=F’4””J i
0-: WITH FOAM I
I
o: WITHOUT FOAM
0.1- * k I # s 1 1 I ) <
01234567 S31011 1213” 14.’
,,
63 ~.’g Ii Is f Is .21 ,,.
LiOUiD INJECT19N RATE, BARRELS FER: >
FOAMING A@ENTSOLUTION INJECT!ON RATE, ,, . DAYI SO. FT.
-,, .,
6ARRELWOAY?SQ,F’C .
,. ;A... .- .— FOAM DOES, NOT AFF=[T GA!VLIQW
_FXG.- 12 _
“FiG: “11‘-. i3Ec!Rtii3E
XN-RATm u; GASjLiQUID’AS’:, sATuRATIofi; S-wr:D”OES-GREATLY AS-J’ --
AFFECT -‘5 --=<1
SURFAC~Afi “CONCENTRATION AND INJECTION PERMEABILITY (SAND PERMEABILI~Y IS 3,1913 ‘MD,
‘RATE INCREASES (SPECIFIdPERMEABILITY OF SAND yjms~ GRADIENT KS 20 IWI/FT AND fi~AMING ,,
1s 3,s90m AND mw3suRE GRADIENT IS20 PSI/FT). CONCENTRATION IS 0.01PER CENT).
.
%72 SOCIETY OF PET~OLHJ~’ ENCJ’i’NEER9JO URNAJ, , “
 r
● ., / ,
/.,’ I
-. . f. . .
. .. . . . .. . . .. ’?. . . . . . .
. . .
water and” 1 per cent foaming agent solution (no oi~ gas permeability in this sand pack to less than 100
present), the permeability to gas was maintained at md. Tbia permeability was then maintained by
Ieaa ~han 1 per cent of the specifi~ permeability (k continuous injection of foaming agent solution at
air) for about a ,month even though the gas saturation a rate equivalent to 0.2 B/D/sq ft.
in the core waa over 70% pore volume. In a fourth experiment with the 4,000-md sand
In this experiment an inlet pressure of 150 psig pack, another type of foaming agent Sr@tion “B”
and a pressure gradient equal to 5 psi/ft were held was used (see Fig. 15). This agent apparently
on the pack (see Fig. 2). In a similar 4,000-md sand formed a more stable foam in brine with oil present;
pack containing an 11 per cenr brine solution (10 the gas permeability was, maintained at less than
per cent NaCl and 1 per ,cent CaC12), the gas 16o rnd (or’3 to 4 per cent of specific permeability)
permeability was maintained at less than 1 per for over a month without continuous injection nf
cent of the specific permeability for shout two
‘ /600-
months after injection of 20 per cent pore volume I I I
of foaming agent Solution “A’*. INJECTSO 1% FOAMIN13 S9SNT ?
20LuTtON ‘A” I,N SOT14 CXPERIMENT8 /
The same ,pressure gradient of 5 psi/ft was ,,
1600-
maintained at an inlet pressure of ISO psig for the
first month. Then the inlet pressure was raised to
1400
800 psig and the outlet. p;essure to 650 psig
(gradient =s psi/ft) arid pressure was held at these ~ —- ,
condicims for one month (see Fig. 13). Tbe results 1
showed that at a gas saturation of over 70 per cent, 2
/“ foam waa still effective in reducing gas permeability ; 1~- .:
in the prese’nce of brine at pte~sures”. as high as
800.psig. ~
A third 4,000-md sand pack was saturated with : 600.
the 11 per cent brine solution and then driven to 4
w.
connate water with a crde oil; the pack was then ~ 6~-
water flooded with 11 per cent (wt.) brine to s & ! ,.

residual oil saturation of about’ 11 per cent pore

i
volume. At this point (1 per cent) foaming agent :’400- ~

Solution “A” was injected into the sand pack

fbUowed by gas at an ,blet pressure of 150 psig. 2oo- —-~
‘>

The permeability to gas was reduced to 270 md or

NO OIL PRfSENT -
. about 7 per cent of the specific permeability to gas
at a gas saturation of over 70 per cent pore volume. 0-~ ~. —
05101520M 3’035
As shown. in Fig. 14, the permeability increased
steadily to a value of over 1,700 md (45 per c“ent of TIME-DAYS

kA) over a period of a’ month. Comparison with the FIG. 14 — OIL INCREASES DECAY RATEr OF FOAM
(PERMEABILITY OF SAND IS 4,000MD, EFFECTIVE
results obtained when oil was not ,present in the
PERMEABILITY TO GAS AT 66 PER CENT PORE
~ pdcks, shows that oil decreased the ability Of foam VOLUME GAS SATURATION. 1$3,600 MD, SAND PACK
to reduce gas permeability and to maintain it at low LENGTH IS 30 FT. PRESSURE GRADIENT IS S PSI/FT
valuea. This effect of the presence of oil was -AND INLET PRESSbRE IS 150 PSIG),
typical with most agents. However, it was found 700- “ -“loo
that injection of more foaming agent’ reduced the
6oo- So
<P .0 ~.- -- -.
: .. dw *-- 5;s XTURATION — T*. ‘ ‘Go
5@- .~ -—– —
1
I
402 i -40
I
&. / 20-
3
20& ~ o
7- :AF; :Ty s‘-4 ‘
f I I I A)
3
I I
I I I I I I
INJEWEO l% FOAMIM@ @3ENT’ SOLUTION ‘B”
20% Pv SLUO. . ..[
10 1 I t * ,>
04’s 12 Is 20 24 2S , 32
., TtM,E-OAYS \
TIME..OAT6

1 FIG. 13 _FOAM IS EFFECTIVE IN REDUCING GAS FIG, 15 — CERTAIN FOAMING AGENTS ARE EFFEC-
~RESENCE- OF .BRINE AND , TIVE IN REDU.@NG .GAS PER&fEAB%~T_y WITH OIL
D PACK; ““ORIGINAL “ PR”E!#EN”T(3~FT SA..D PtiCIi,.ORIGINAL MATURATIONS- “ ‘“ ‘-’:-
SATURATION WAS 100 PER CENT PORE VOLUME S9 PER.CENT PORE VOLUME BRINE AND,llPER CENT
.. POREVOLUME CRUDE OIL, ABSOLUTE PERMEABILITY
BRINE, SAND PERMEABILITY IS 4,0~0 MD AND PRES-
,,
SURE :GR/$IENT IS 5.PSIYFT), , 4,000 MD), -, .“
l.’
. . .
sEPTEMBER, 1.964 ..
/’
 .. . ..-. .— .. ...— — -...— . .... .. . -. .. . . . . ... ——
-.. .

the agent; again, the gaa saturation in the sand
pack was over70 per cent pore volume. Neverthe-
iw, itcan be concluded that the presence of oil
in a porous medium will decrease the effectiveness
of foam for reducing gas permeability. On”the other
hand, the presence of salts in water do noc appear
to reduce the effectiveness of foam to an appreciable
degree.
CONCLUSIONS
I. Foam was exceedingly’ effective in reducing
the permeability of porous media to gas. Foam-
sacurated sands (consolidated and unconso~idated)
with specific permeabilities of 100 to 146,000 tad
had gas petieabilicies thqt were less than 1 per
cent of the apecific permeability.
2. Foam reduced the gas permeability of a loose
sand to a greater degree. than that of a tight sand.
Fosm should cause, to some degiee, a seiective
plugging of high permeability channeIs in various
oil’ displacement processes.
3: I?osm stability a~pears to depend on sand
permeabiiicy. The greater the specific permeability
of the sand the iower the foam stability. . ‘1
4. Complete breakdown of foam under a prcsaure
gradient also appears to be a function of permea-
bility. The greater the specific permeability, of the
sand the lower the pres,eure gradient necessary to
break down the foam’ structure. However, the
gradients required for foam breakdown are not
usuaily encountered in gas or oil reservoirs.
5. Because foam is a thermodynamically unstabie
structure.,. permanent underground @gging accion
can best be attained by continuous foam genera tion.’
~is can be done” by injecting, continuously or
intermittently, amali voiumes of foaming agent
solution into the gas stream.
6. Foams generated from foaming agent’ solutions
.of various concentrations, were very effective. in
reducing the gas permeability of porous media. The “
permeability reduccion increased as the concentta-
tiort of the foaming agent solution was increased.
7. In normal two-phase flow, permeability is a
one-valued function of saturation Iopiy. when foam
is present in a core, under a given pressure gradient,
the iacer and gas saturations in the core are the .
same as in the normai case where there is no foam.
However, ‘even ac the same gas saturation in the -
core, the permeability to &as in tha presence of
foam is ‘much iess than the permeability in the
absence of foam.
8. In a porous medium oil generally decreases
I
the effecciveneas of foam for reducing gas permea-
bility, whiie brine has little effect. Certain foaming
agents are reiacively effective in che pres&nce of
oil while other more common agents may require
continuous injection aiong with gas co be effective.
.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors wish to acknowledge the assistance
of W. L. Jacobs, D. H. Ferr and D. A. Okesson who
conducted the experimental work.
REFERENCES
I
1. Fried, A. N.: ‘Whe Foam-Drive Process for Increasing
the Recovery of 011”,USBM Dept. of Investigations
5866 (1961),
2. Bond,. IL C.’ and Holbrook, 0. C.: Gas Drive Oil
Recovery Process, U, t?. Patent No. 2,866,507 (1958).
3. Bernard, G, G.: t$Effe~t of Fosm on Recovery Of oil
by Gas-Drive”, Pfod. Monthly (1963) Vol. 27, No, 1,
18,
.,.
4. Deming, J. R.: 4‘Fundamental Properties of Foams and
Their EffectsOD the Efficiency or the Foam Drive
Process’}, M.S.Thesis,The PennsylvaniaStateU.
(March,1964).
5. Bikeman, J.J.:Foams: Theory and industrial Appli.
cations, Rsinholdpublishing Corp., New York (1953),
., ***

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!474 sOCIETY OF PET; OLEUM EtQCINEERS JOURNAL
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