Significance of Foam Catastrophe in Shallow Subsurface Applications

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2006 Vol.43, Issue 5 Preview Page Next Page

Significance of Foam Catastrophe in Shallow Subsurface Applications 천부지층 적용을 위한 거품 파국이론의 중요성: 감승일, 최종근
Seung Ihl Kam and Jonggeun Choe

31 October 2006. pp. 499-508

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Abstract

For the first time, this study presents experimental evidences of catastrophic nature of in-situ foam generation in a wide range of liquid superficial velocity once the pressure gradient was controlled: the S-shaped path of foam catastrophe moved back and forth from weak-foam to strong-foam state exhibiting unstable intermediate-state in which gas superficial velocity fluctuated over time. Kam and Rossen’s model that previously accounted for lamella mobilization and division by the minimum pressure gradient was further modified and extended in this study to match the entire range of new experimental results with six model parameters. Implications of foam catastrophe in the presence of permeability contrast within shallow geological formations were investigated by the new model and parameters, allowing for the sensitivity of lamella stability to capillary pressure. Results showed that the diversion process became more effective with foams at a higher pressure gradient and, if it happened, the effectiveness of foam diversion process was primarily governed by the limiting capillary pressure of different geological layers. The model was implemented with a simple 1D simulation technique to predict propagation of strong and weak foams in porous media.

Keywords

Foam

Catastrophe

Flow division

Modelling

Coreflood

이 논문은 넓은 범위의 액체 겉보기 속도에서 복잡한 거품(foam)의 생성거동에 대한 실험적 증거들을 처음으로 보여준다. 거품을 이용한 코어유동 실험에서 압력감소가 입력변수로 조절된다면 거품의 거동은 약한 거품(weak-foam), 강한 거품(strong-foam), 그리고 그 사이 불안전한 중간 상태로 표현되며 이는 파국이론(catastrophe theory)으로 설명될 수 있다. 이 연구는 S-자 모양의 파국표면이 넓은 범위의 유속에 대해서도 일반적으로 나타나는 현상임을 실험을 통하여 보이고, 이를 이전에 개발된 Kam and Rossen 모델을 개량한 6개 인자의 새 모델로 맞추었다. 유체투과도가 상이한 지층들이 존재하는 경우 거품의 안정도는 삼투압에 의해 영향을 받으므로 유체투과도가 낮은 지층으로 유동전환은 상대적으로 압력감소가 높은 강한 거품일 경우에만 일어나는 것으로 예측되었다. 이 모델을 1차원 수치모델과 결합한 결과 향후 거품의 거동을 예측할 수 있는 모델로 사용될 수 있는 가능성을 보였다.

키워드

거품

파국이론

유동분산

모델링

코어이동

References

Alvarez, J.M., Rivas, H., and Rossen, W.R., 2001, “A Unified Model for Steady-State Foam Behavior at High and Low Foam Qualities,” SPEJ (Sept.), pp. 325-333.
Aronson, A.S., Bergeron, V., Fagan, M.E., and Radke, C.J., 1994, “The Influence of Disjoining Pressure on Foam Stability and Flow in Porous Media,” Colloids Surfaces A: Physicochem. Eng. Aspects, Vol. 83, No. 2, pp. 109-120.
Chambers, K.T. and Radke, C.J., 1990, “Capillary Phenomena in Foam Flow through Porous Media,” in Interfacial Phenomena in Oil Recovery, N. R. Morrow (ed.), Marcel Dekker, New York.
Falls, A.H., Hirasaki, G.J., Patzek, T.W., Gauglitz, P.A., Miller, D.D., and Ratulowski, J., 1988, “Development of a Mechanistic Foam Simulator: The Population Balance and Generation by Snap-Off,” SPERE (Aug.), pp. 884-892.
Gauglitz, P.A., Friedmann, F., Kam, S.I., and Rossen, W.R., 2002, “Foam Generation in Homogeneous Porous Media,” Chem. Eng. Sci., Vol. 57, pp. 4037-4052.
Hirasaki, G.J., Jackson, R.E., Jin, M., Lawson, J.B., Londergan, J., Meinardus, H., Miller, C.A., Pope, G.A., Szafranski, R. and Tanzil, D., 2000, “Field Demonstration of the Surfactant/Foam Process for Remediation of a Heterogeneous Aquifer Contaminated with DNAPL,” in NAPL Removal: Surfactants, Foams, and Microemulsions, Fiorenza, C., Miller, A., Oubre, C.L., and Ward, C.H. (ed.), Lewis Publishers.
Hirasaki, G.J., Miller, C.A., Szafranski, R., Lawson, J.B., and Akiya, N., 1997, “Surfactant/Foam Process for Aquifer Remediation,” paper SPE 37257 presented at the SPE International Symposium on Oilfield Chemistry, Houston, TX, 18-21 Feb.
Kam, S.I. and Rossen, W.R., 2003, “A Model for Foam Generation in Homogeneous Media,” SPEJ (Dec.), pp. 417-425 .
Kam, S.I. and Choe, J., 2004, “Foams for Aquifer Remediation: Two Flow Regimes and Its Implication to Diversion Process,” J. of Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment, Vol. 9, No. 1, pp. 1-11.
Kam, S.I., Frenier, W.W., Davies, S.N., and Rossen, W.R., 2003, “Experimental Study of High-Temperature Foam for Acid Diversion,” paper SPE 82266 presented at the SPE European Formation Damage Conference, The Hague, The Netherlands, 13-14 May.
Khatib, Z.I., Hirasaki, G.J., and Falls, A.H., 1988, “Effects of Capillary Pressure on Coalescence and Phase Mobilities in Foams Flowing Through Porous Media,” SPERE, pp. 919-926.
Kovscek, A.R., Patzek, T.W., and Radke, C.J., 1989, “Mechanistic Foam Flow Simulation in Heterogeneous and Multidimensional Porous Media,” SPEJ, pp. 511-526.
Lake, L., 1989, Enhanced Oil Recovery, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
Mamun, C.K., Rong, J.G., Kam, S.I., Liljestrand, H.M., and Rossen, W.R., 2002, “Extending Foam Technology from Improved Oil Recovery to Environmental Remediation,” paper SPE 77557 presented at the SPE ATCE, San Antonio, TX, 29 Sept.-2 Oct.
Mamun, C.K., Rong, J.G., Kam, S.I., Liljestrand, H.M., and Rossen, W.R., 2002, “Simulating Use of Foam in Aquifer Remediation,” Developments in Water Science, Vol. 47, No. 1, pp. 867-874.
Myers, T.J. and Radke, C.J., 2000, “Transient Foam Displacement in the Presence of Residual Oil: Experiment and Simulation Using a Population-Balance Model,” Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., Vol. 39, pp. 2725-2741.
Poston, T. and Stewart, I., 1978, Catastrophe Theory and Its Applications, Dover Publications, Inc., Mineola.
Ransohoff, T.C. and Radke, C.J., 1988, “Mechanisms of Foam Generation in Glass-Bead Packs,” SPERE (May), pp. 573-585.
Rossen, W.R., 1996, “Foams in Enhanced Oil Recovery,” in Foams: Theory, Measurements and Applications, R. K. Prud'homme and S. Khan (ed.), Marcel Dekker, New York.
Rossen, W.R., 1999, “Foam Generation at Layer Boundaries in Porous Media,” SPEJ (Dec.), pp. 409-412.
Rossen, W.R., 2000, “Snap-Off in Constricted Tubes and Porous Media,” Colloids Surfaces A: Physicochem Eng. Aspects, Vol. 166, pp. 101-107.
Rossen, W.R. and Gauglitz, P.A., 1990, “Percolation Theory of Creation and Mobilization of Foam in Porous Media,” AIChE J., Vol. 36, pp. 1176-1188.
Rossen, W.R. and Zhou, Z.H., 1995, “Modeling Foam Mobility at the Limiting Capillary Pressure,” SPE Adv. Technology, Vol. 3, No. 1, p. 146-153.
Schramm, L.L. (ed.), 1994, Foams: Fundamentals and Applications in the Petroleum Industry, ACS Advances in Chemistry Series No. 242, Am. Chem. Soc., Washington, DC.
Tanzil, D., Hirasaki, G.J., and Miller, C.A., 2002, “Conditions for Foam Generation in Homogeneous Porous Media,” paper SPE 75176 presented at the SPE/DOE Symposium on Improved Oil Recovery, Tulsa, OK, 13-17 April.
Zhou, Z.H. and Rossen, W.R., 1995, “Applying Fractional Flow Theory to Foam Processes at the limiting Capillary Pressure,” SPE Adv. Technology, Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 154-162.

Information

Publisher :The Korean Society of Mineral and Energy Resources Engineers
Publisher(Ko) :한국자원공학회
Journal Title :Journal of the Korean Society for Geosystem Engineering
Journal Title(Ko) :한국지구시스템공학회지
Volume : 43
No :5
Pages :499-508

[1] Alvarez, J.M., Rivas, H., and Rossen, W.R., 2001, “A Unified Model for Steady-State Foam Behavior at High and Low Foam Qualities,” SPEJ (Sept.), pp. 325-333.

[2] Aronson, A.S., Bergeron, V., Fagan, M.E., and Radke, C.J., 1994, “The Influence of Disjoining Pressure on Foam Stability and Flow in Porous Media,” Colloids Surfaces A: Physicochem. Eng. Aspects, Vol. 83, No. 2, pp. 109-120.

[3] Chambers, K.T. and Radke, C.J., 1990, “Capillary Phenomena in Foam Flow through Porous Media,” in Interfacial Phenomena in Oil Recovery, N. R. Morrow (ed.), Marcel Dekker, New York.

[4] Falls, A.H., Hirasaki, G.J., Patzek, T.W., Gauglitz, P.A., Miller, D.D., and Ratulowski, J., 1988, “Development of a Mechanistic Foam Simulator: The Population Balance and Generation by Snap-Off,” SPERE (Aug.), pp. 884-892.

[5] Gauglitz, P.A., Friedmann, F., Kam, S.I., and Rossen, W.R., 2002, “Foam Generation in Homogeneous Porous Media,” Chem. Eng. Sci., Vol. 57, pp. 4037-4052.

[6] Hirasaki, G.J., Jackson, R.E., Jin, M., Lawson, J.B., Londergan, J., Meinardus, H., Miller, C.A., Pope, G.A., Szafranski, R. and Tanzil, D., 2000, “Field Demonstration of the Surfactant/Foam Process for Remediation of a Heterogeneous Aquifer Contaminated with DNAPL,” in NAPL Removal: Surfactants, Foams, and Microemulsions, Fiorenza, C., Miller, A., Oubre, C.L., and Ward, C.H. (ed.), Lewis Publishers.

[7] Hirasaki, G.J., Miller, C.A., Szafranski, R., Lawson, J.B., and Akiya, N., 1997, “Surfactant/Foam Process for Aquifer Remediation,” paper SPE 37257 presented at the SPE International Symposium on Oilfield Chemistry, Houston, TX, 18-21 Feb.

[8] Kam, S.I. and Rossen, W.R., 2003, “A Model for Foam Generation in Homogeneous Media,” SPEJ (Dec.), pp. 417-425 .

[9] Kam, S.I. and Choe, J., 2004, “Foams for Aquifer Remediation: Two Flow Regimes and Its Implication to Diversion Process,” J. of Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment, Vol. 9, No. 1, pp. 1-11.

[10] Kam, S.I., Frenier, W.W., Davies, S.N., and Rossen, W.R., 2003, “Experimental Study of High-Temperature Foam for Acid Diversion,” paper SPE 82266 presented at the SPE European Formation Damage Conference, The Hague, The Netherlands, 13-14 May.

[11] Khatib, Z.I., Hirasaki, G.J., and Falls, A.H., 1988, “Effects of Capillary Pressure on Coalescence and Phase Mobilities in Foams Flowing Through Porous Media,” SPERE, pp. 919-926.

[12] Kovscek, A.R., Patzek, T.W., and Radke, C.J., 1989, “Mechanistic Foam Flow Simulation in Heterogeneous and Multidimensional Porous Media,” SPEJ, pp. 511-526.

[13] Lake, L., 1989, Enhanced Oil Recovery, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.

[14] Mamun, C.K., Rong, J.G., Kam, S.I., Liljestrand, H.M., and Rossen, W.R., 2002, “Extending Foam Technology from Improved Oil Recovery to Environmental Remediation,” paper SPE 77557 presented at the SPE ATCE, San Antonio, TX, 29 Sept.-2 Oct.

[15] Mamun, C.K., Rong, J.G., Kam, S.I., Liljestrand, H.M., and Rossen, W.R., 2002, “Simulating Use of Foam in Aquifer Remediation,” Developments in Water Science, Vol. 47, No. 1, pp. 867-874.

[16] Myers, T.J. and Radke, C.J., 2000, “Transient Foam Displacement in the Presence of Residual Oil: Experiment and Simulation Using a Population-Balance Model,” Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., Vol. 39, pp. 2725-2741.

[17] Poston, T. and Stewart, I., 1978, Catastrophe Theory and Its Applications, Dover Publications, Inc., Mineola.

[18] Ransohoff, T.C. and Radke, C.J., 1988, “Mechanisms of Foam Generation in Glass-Bead Packs,” SPERE (May), pp. 573-585.

[19] Rossen, W.R., 1996, “Foams in Enhanced Oil Recovery,” in Foams: Theory, Measurements and Applications, R. K. Prud'homme and S. Khan (ed.), Marcel Dekker, New York.

[20] Rossen, W.R., 1999, “Foam Generation at Layer Boundaries in Porous Media,” SPEJ (Dec.), pp. 409-412.

[21] Rossen, W.R., 2000, “Snap-Off in Constricted Tubes and Porous Media,” Colloids Surfaces A: Physicochem Eng. Aspects, Vol. 166, pp. 101-107.

[22] Rossen, W.R. and Gauglitz, P.A., 1990, “Percolation Theory of Creation and Mobilization of Foam in Porous Media,” AIChE J., Vol. 36, pp. 1176-1188.

[23] Rossen, W.R. and Zhou, Z.H., 1995, “Modeling Foam Mobility at the Limiting Capillary Pressure,” SPE Adv. Technology, Vol. 3, No. 1, p. 146-153.

[24] Schramm, L.L. (ed.), 1994, Foams: Fundamentals and Applications in the Petroleum Industry, ACS Advances in Chemistry Series No. 242, Am. Chem. Soc., Washington, DC.

[25] Tanzil, D., Hirasaki, G.J., and Miller, C.A., 2002, “Conditions for Foam Generation in Homogeneous Porous Media,” paper SPE 75176 presented at the SPE/DOE Symposium on Improved Oil Recovery, Tulsa, OK, 13-17 April.

[26] Zhou, Z.H. and Rossen, W.R., 1995, “Applying Fractional Flow Theory to Foam Processes at the limiting Capillary Pressure,” SPE Adv. Technology, Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 154-162.

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