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Foam Enhancement of sweep in Fracture System

Foam Enhancement of sweep in Fracture System. Wei Yan George J. Hirasaki Clarence A. Miller Chemical Engineering Department, Rice University. Objective. Study the diversion of liquid in heterogeneous fracture network with foam. Foam flow in fractures experiment setup.

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Foam Enhancement of sweep in Fracture System

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  1. Foam Enhancement of sweep in Fracture System Wei Yan George J. Hirasaki Clarence A. Miller Chemical Engineering Department, Rice University

  2. Objective • Study the diversion of liquid in heterogeneous fracture network with foam

  3. Foam flow in fractures experiment setup Computer for recording pressure difference Transducer Surfactant solution HP digital camera Syringe pump Frit Fracture model Air Foam generator Air mass flow controller

  4. Experiment conditions • Surfactant: 0.5% C13-4PO+0.5% CS330 • Salinity: 0.23% NaCl, 0.07% CaCl2, 0.04% MgCl2 • Aperture: 0.1mm, 0.2mm, 0.1 mm/0.2 mm (1:2), 0.05 mm/0.15 mm (1:3) • Fractional gas flow: 0~0.9 • Bubble diameter: 0.4 mm, 0.6 mm

  5. Mechanisms affecting apparent viscosity in fracture system

  6. Homogeneous parallel plates model Variable thickness 12 inch 14 inch 6 inch 8 inch

  7. Effect of flow rate and gas fractional flow on apparent viscosity Re=0.5 Re=30

  8. Water front at different Reynold’s number Re=30 Re=0.5

  9. Effect of bubble size on apparent viscosity

  10. Heterogeneous parallel plates model Variable thickness 0.1 mm 12 inch 14 inch 10 inch 6 inch 8 inch

  11. Foam has higher apparent viscosity at larger thickness • Match of apparent viscosity from theory and measurement 0.15 mm thickness 0.05 mm thickness

  12. Aperture = 0.05 mm / 0.15 mm, Re = 0.22, DB = 0.4 mm fg=0.0 • Foam improves sweep of fractured system • Less liquid is needed to sweep system with foam 0.41PV 0.82 PV 1.23PV 1.64 PV 2.05 PV 6.56 PV fg=0.9 0.04 LPV 0.08 LPV 0.12 LPV 0.16 LPV 0.21 LPV 0.66 LPV LPV – Liquid Pore volume

  13. Surfactant solution to sweep entire heterogeneous fracture at different aperture ratio in total pore volume

  14. Surfactant solution to sweep entire heterogeneous fracture at different aperture ratio in liquid pore volume 1:3 1:2

  15. The model to describe flow in heterogeneous parallel plates Dykstra-Parsons Model Impermeable P3 P1 P4 P2 P1=P2 P3=P4

  16. Injection to breakthrough in wide and narrow aperture

  17. Calculation of sweep efficiency in fracture network • Fracture apertures are with log-normal distribution • No crossflow • Pressure difference is equal for each layer • Gas fractional flow is equal in each layer

  18. Calculation of foam/water sweep in heterogeneous fractures with log-normal distribution apertures Set bubble diameter=0.1mm

  19. Simulation of foam/water sweep in heterogeneous fractures with log-normal distribution apertures Set bubble diameter=0.1mm

  20. Conclusions • The foam apparent viscosity in heterogeneous fracture is from two contributions-bubble deformation and liquid slugs between bubbles. The measurement corresponds to the theory. • Gas fractional flow and fracture thickness ratio can greatly affect the sweep efficiency. • Foam can greatly improve the sweep efficiency in heterogeneous fracture. • Dykstra-Parsons model can be applied to simulate the transient state foam flow in heterogeneous fractures

  21. Future work • Test surfactants’ ability to generate foam in alkaline-surfactant EOR process • Study the foam stability with the presence of oil

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