Experimental investigation of flow rate�s effect on surfactant-alternating-gas foam process

The gas injection is one of the most common methods to increase oil recovery. However, there are several drawbacks in the application of this method due to density and viscosity differences between displaced and displacing fluids. In order to tackle these drawbacks, gas can be utilized as different forms of foam which one of these methods is called Surfactant-Alternating-Gas (SAG). Although many studies have been conducted on foam flow through porous media, the behavior of foam still is moot to some extent. Since, the elaboration of SAG foam behavior in porous media is the aim of this study. However many parameters affect SAG foam behavior, the injection flow rate plays a significant role in foam behavior. In this study, we investigated the flow rate�s effect on SAG behavior. To achieve this target, several cores flooding, in the absence of oil, were conducted and results were interpreted. The experimental design for this work included core flooding apparatus, IOS as surfactant and nitrogen as injected gas. The experiments were interpreted in term of liquid recovery and pressure drop. The results show that the SAG efficiency highly depends on gas flow rate which high injection flow rate, low SAG foam efficiency. © 2016 Penerbit UTM Press. All rights reserved.