Gas Foams
Description:
Dedicated surfactants are used to generate foam in oil reservoirs, from near-wellbore to in-depth in the formation. These foams improve gas sweep efficiency in CO2 (dense and non-dense), N2 and HC gas floods, resulting in accelerated and augmented recovery. The EOR Alliance has developed a workflow to select specific additives for various gases foams.
Application:
In-depth gas mobility control, conformance treatment, gas shut-off, GOR control, gravity segregation.
Results:
Foam formulations were optimized both from the technical and the economical standpoint for a profitable field scale process. Petrophysics application tests demonstrated efficient gas mobility control results in various sets of conditions, including with CO2 rich-gas up to 100°C, in hard water and in presence of light paraffinic oil.
Issues
- Poor gas sweep efficiency results in limited oil recovery by gas injection at reservoir scale.
- High gas/oil ratio at producers limits oil production and increases gas treatment costs.
- Water-alternating-gas injection only provides limited gas mobility control.
- Conformance treatments are not easily applicable.
Need
- Economical industrial solution permitting a better gas utilization for oil recovery at reservoir scale
- Ease of application of the designed solution
- Limited risk of damage to the reservoir
Objective
- Lab-to-pilot design of a dedicated solution based on foam to improve gas utilization
- Develop fit-for-purpose formulation in specific reservoir conditions (gas, oil, water, temperature)
- Characterize formulation efficiency both from the technical and the economical standpoint using dedicated workflow
- Deliver results at pilot scale
