pps proceeding - Abstract Preview
pps proceeding
Symposium: S09 - Polymer foams
Poster Presentation
 
 

CO2 foam stability using polymeric surfactants and water soluble polymers

Kamal Muhammad Shahzad (1)*, Hussain Syed (2), Fogang lionel (2), Mahboob Ahmad (2)

(1) King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals - Dhahran - SaudiArabia, (2) King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals - Dhahran - SaudiArabia

With the increase in global energy and the decline in oil production from the conventional reservoir, it is important to recover maximum oil from oil reservoirs using enhanced oil recovery (EOR) methods. Nitrogen, Carbon dioxide, air, and hydrocarbon gases are widely used in gas EOR. The use of gas leads to better microscopic sweep efficiency compared to waterflooding. The main challenge in foam assisted EOR is the stability of foam during its flow in porous media. At severe reservoir conditions, CO2 foam becomes more unstable due to water drainage and gas diffusion through the lamella. Different chemicals are added to improve the stability of the foams which include surfactants, nanoparticles, and polymers. In this work, three betaine type polymeric surfactants (polyoxyethylene zwitterionic surfactants) were synthesized for CO2 EOR. The structure of the surfactants was characterized using 13C-NMR,1H-NMR, and FTIR. All the surfactants were thermally stable at the given temperature as no structural degradation was observed in NMR and FTIR spectra after aging. Foamability and foam stability of the surfactants were investigated using CO2 and N2 gas at various temperature conditions. A novel acrylamide-based copolymer was used to stabilize the CO2 foam. Foamability and foam stability was assessed using dynamic foam analyzer provided by Kruss. It was observed that the synthesized polyoxyethylene zwitterionic surfactants have very good foamability with both N2 and CO2. However, the stability of the foam with CO2 was less compared to the N2. The addition of acrylamide-based copolymer can improve the foam stability of the CO2 foam significantly. The foam stability was assessed by the foam volume stability parameter (FVS), the foam diameter, and bubble count at the given time. In addition, the acrylamide-based copolymer also viscosify the injection brine which can further improve the oil recovery.