Capturing the Dynamics of Foam Coarsening in a HPHT Microfluidic System

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Yu ◽  
Xianmin Zhou ◽  
Mazen Yousef Kanj
Keyword(s):  
Porous Media ◽  
Pore Pressure ◽  
Foam Stability ◽  
Microfluidic System ◽  
Linear Increase ◽  
Gas Phases ◽  
Co2 Foam ◽  
Reservoir Conditions ◽  
Ultralow Interfacial Tension ◽  
Two Stages

Abstract The foam coarsening process is significant to foam stability in porous media. This study provides, for the first time, direct visualization of the foam coarsening process in porous media under realistic reservoir conditions. Foam coarsening behavior in porous media has shown a similar linear increase in the average bubble area to that in an open system but differs in two stages. The average bubble area increases with a faster rate in stage 1 and then increases with a slower rate in stage 2 and stage 2 dominates the foam coarsening process. The transition between the two stages occurs as the inner bubbles disappear when the edge bubbles start feeling the effects of the walls. The foam at steady-state shows a bimodal size distribution with bubbles trapped in the pore bodies and pore throats. The effects of pore pressure (600-3200 psi) and temperature (22-100 °C) were studied. Foam coarsening dynamics are sensitive to pore pressure and temperature, where higher pore pressure and lower temperature are more favorable to maintain a stable foam. Finally, the coarsening rates of foams generated with different gas phases were compared. In contrast to N2 foam and gas CO2 foam, supercritical CO2 foam exhibits the slowest coarsening rate because of its ultralow interfacial tension.

scholarly journals Experimental study of the supercritical CO 2 diffusion coefficient in porous media under reservoir conditions

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
pp. 181902 ◽  
Author(s):  
Junchen Lv ◽  
Yuan Chi ◽  
Changzhong Zhao ◽  
Yi Zhang ◽  
Hailin Mu
Keyword(s):  
Porous Media ◽  
Diffusion Coefficient ◽  
Oil Recovery ◽  
Carbon Capture ◽  
Carbon Capture And Storage ◽  
Elevated Pressure ◽  
Experimental Results ◽  
Saturated Porous Media ◽  
Reservoir Conditions ◽  
The Impact

Reliable measurement of the CO 2 diffusion coefficient in consolidated oil-saturated porous media is critical for the design and performance of CO 2 -enhanced oil recovery (EOR) and carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects. A thorough experimental investigation of the supercritical CO 2 diffusion in n -decane-saturated Berea cores with permeabilities of 50 and 100 mD was conducted in this study at elevated pressure (10–25 MPa) and temperature (333.15–373.15 K), which simulated actual reservoir conditions. The supercritical CO 2 diffusion coefficients in the Berea cores were calculated by a model appropriate for diffusion in porous media based on Fick's Law. The results show that the supercritical CO 2 diffusion coefficient increases as the pressure, temperature and permeability increase. The supercritical CO 2 diffusion coefficient first increases slowly at 10 MPa and then grows significantly with increasing pressure. The impact of the pressure decreases at elevated temperature. The effect of permeability remains steady despite the temperature change during the experiments. The effect of gas state and porous media on the supercritical CO 2 diffusion coefficient was further discussed by comparing the results of this study with previous study. Based on the experimental results, an empirical correlation for supercritical CO 2 diffusion coefficient in n -decane-saturated porous media was developed. The experimental results contribute to the study of supercritical CO 2 diffusion in compact porous media.

scholarly journals CO2 Convective Dissolution in Oil-Saturated Unconsolidated Porous Media at Reservoir Conditions

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 233
Author(s):  
Widuramina Amarasinghe ◽  
Ingebret Fjelde ◽  
Nils Giske ◽  
Ying Guo
Keyword(s):  
Porous Media ◽  
Crude Oil ◽  
Water Solution ◽  
Co2 Storage ◽  
Bromothymol Blue ◽  
Power Relationship ◽  
Dimensionless Time ◽  
3 Dimensional ◽  
Reservoir Conditions ◽  
Unconsolidated Porous Media

During CO2 storage, CO2 plume mixes with the water and oil present at the reservoir, initiated by diffusion followed by a density gradient that leads to a convective flow. Studies are available where CO2 convective mixing have been studied in water phase but limited in oil phase. This study was conducted to reach this gap, and experiments were conducted in a vertically packed 3-dimensional column with oil-saturated unconsolidated porous media at 100 bar and 50 °C (representative of reservoir pressure and temperature conditions). N-Decane and crude oil were used as oils, and glass beads as porous media. A bromothymol blue water solution-filled sapphire cell connected at the bottom of the column was used to monitor the CO2 breakthrough. With the increase of the Rayleigh number, the CO2 transport rate in n-decane was found to increase as a function of a second order polynomial. Ra number vs. dimensionless time τ had a power relationship in the form of Ra = c×τ−n. The overall pressure decay was faster in n-decane compared to crude oil for similar permeability (4 D), and the crude oil had a breakthrough time three times slower than in n-decane. The results were compared with similar experiments that have been carried out using water.

scholarly journals Propagation of pore pressure diffusion waves in saturated porous media

2015 ◽  
Vol 117 (13) ◽  
pp. 134902 ◽  
Author(s):  
Duoxing Yang ◽  
Qi Li ◽  
Lianzhong Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Porous Media ◽  
Pore Pressure ◽  
Saturated Porous Media ◽  
Diffusion Waves ◽  
Pressure Diffusion

Aqueous CO2 Foam Armored by Particulate Matter from Flue Gas for Mobility Control in Porous Media

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (11) ◽  
pp. 14464-14475
Author(s):  
Qichao Lv ◽  
Tongke Zhou ◽  
Rong Zheng ◽  
Xing Zhang ◽  
Zhaoxia Dong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Porous Media ◽  
Particulate Matter ◽  
Flue Gas ◽  
Mobility Control ◽  
Co2 Foam

scholarly journals Role of Ionic Headgroups on the Thermal, Rheological, and Foaming Properties of Novel Betaine-Based Polyoxyethylene Zwitterionic Surfactants for Enhanced Oil Recovery

Processes ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (12) ◽  
pp. 908 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Shahzad Kamal ◽  
Syed Muhammad Shakil Hussain ◽  
Lionel Talley Fogang
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Stability ◽  
High Temperature ◽  
Oil Recovery ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Foam Stability ◽  
Foaming Properties ◽  
Zwitterionic Surfactants ◽  
Reservoir Conditions ◽  
Thermal Stability Of

Long-term thermal stability of surfactants under harsh reservoir conditions is one of the main challenges for surfactant injection. Most of the commercially available surfactants thermally degrade or precipitate when exposed to high-temperature and high-salinity conditions. In this work, we designed and synthesized three novel betaine-based polyoxyethylene zwitterionic surfactants containing different head groups (carboxybetaine, sulfobetaine, and hydroxysulfobetaine) and bearing an unsaturated tail. The impact of the surfactant head group on the long-term thermal stability, foam stability, and surfactant–polymer interactions were examined. The thermal stability of the surfactants was assessed by monitoring the structural changes when exposed at high temperature (90 °C) for three months using 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, and FTIR analysis. All surfactants were found thermally stable regardless of the headgroup and no structural changes were evidenced. The surfactant–polymer interactions were dominant in deionized water. However, in seawater, the surfactant addition had no effect on the rheological properties. Similarly, changing the headgroup of polyoxyethylene zwitterionic surfactants had no major effect on the foamability and foam stability. The findings of the present study reveal that the betaine-based polyoxyethylene zwitterionic surfactant can be a good choice for enhanced oil recovery application and the nature of the headgroup has no major impact on the thermal, rheological, and foaming properties of the surfactant in typical harsh reservoir conditions (high salinity, high temperature).

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