Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, 10 ( 1993) 135-156 135

Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., Amsterdam

Foam as a gas-blocking agent in petroleum reservoirs II:

Mechanisms of gas blockage by foam

Jan Erik Hanssen

Rogaland Research (RF), Box 2503 Ullandhaug, N-4004 Stavanger, Norway
(Received November 6, 1992; revised version accepted August 20, 1993)

ABSTRACT

An experimental study is reported on gas-blocking foam in porous media. The methods used were visual observations
of pore-level events and macroscopic displacement-front movement, an analysis of pressure-driven foam generation ex-
periments in beadpacks, and the measurement of in situ saturation and pressure profiles. A qualitative characterization
of the gas-blocking state consistent with previous observations is developed, including a simple analytical model for the
generation of gas-blocking foam and a description of gas transport through a network of stagnant foam films.

Introduction sure-driven mode being less well characterized

The use of foam to selectively control the
mobility of injected gases or to reduce gas in-
flux into producing wells has been much stud-
ied. Since the earliest investigations (Hol-
brook and Bond, 1958; Fried, 1961; Holm and
Bernard, 1964), the behavior of foam con-
fined in a porous medium has been studied by
two different experimental approaches, de-
fined here as rate-driven and pressure-driven.
In rate-driven experiments, fluids are fed into
the porous medium at controlled flow rates.
The most common procedure is to coinjeer gas
and foaming-agent solution into a porous me-
dium (at some initial saturation state ), until a
macroscopically steady state is observed. In
pressure-driven experiments, the inlet and
outlet pressures are controlled, flow rates and
fractional flows are the resultant variables;
most commonly gas is injected into porous
media saturated with surfactant solution and
residual oil. A recent status summary pointed
out that foam properties may depend on the
experimental procedure used, with the pres-
(Hanssen, 1992),
A companion paper (Hanssen, 1993, this is-
sue) describes a series of pressure-driven ex-
periments with foam in long porous media at
flow rates and pressure gradients typical of
reservoir flow. Foam generation produced low
liquid saturations, at which liquid ceased flow-
ing as a separate phase. Gas, then, is the only
phase entering and leaving the porous me-
dium; the flow rate and differential pressure
corresponding to an apparent permeability of
gas through foam is orders of magnitude lower
than that of a foam-free case. These properties
define the gas-blocking state of a confined
foam; essentially transient but often persisting
for months (Holm and Bernard, 1964; Persoff
et al., 1990). This attracted some interest in
the 1960s (Holm and Bernard, 1964; Grk-
tekin, 1968; Holm, 1968; Holm and Bernard,
1970; Marsden and Albrecht, 1970; Raza,
1970), but has been less studied in recent years
than the flowing steady state (De Vries and
Wit, 1990; Heller and Lee, 1990; Persoffet al.,
1991; Radke and Ettinger, 1992 ). Despite early
reports indicating that the gas-blocking state

0920-4105/93/$06.00 © 1993 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V. All rights reserved.

136
occurred mainly in oil-free systems (Holm and
Bernard, 1964; Holm, 1968 ), foams have been
found that produce strong gas blockage in the
presence of crude oil at high temperatures
(Hanssen and Dalland, 1990), at full reser-
voir conditions (Hanssen and Dalland, 1991 ),
and even by foaming a non-aqueous, nonwet-
ting liquid (Hanssen and Haugum, 1991 ).
The sensitivity of gas blockage to experi-
mental parameters is characterized in the
companion paper (Hanssen, 1993, this issue ).
Of particular importance is the oil/foam inter-
action (Hanssen and Meling, 1990; Dalland et
al., 1992), and the length of the porous me-
dium (Hanssen and Haugum, 1991; Hanssen,
1993 ). Maintaining foam at the gas-blocking
state is critical for controlling high gas/oil ra-
tios in production wells (Heuer and Jacocks,
1968; Hanssen et al., 1989; Ekrann and Hans-
sen, 1990), but other applications may also
depend on the blocking and diverting action of
foam. Based on field experience, the practical-
ity of "driving foam through a reservoir" was
in fact questioned at an early date (Holm,
1970). The growth of a foam bank for at most
a few meters, until flow stops, was argued as
well as its main reservoir effects. Note that this
does not preclude deep penetration, because
foam treatment is not synonymous with foam
injection: foam can be generated from injected
gas and surfactant solution where local condi-
tions are favorable.
Most approaches to foam modeling do not
represent the gas-blocking state (Falls et al.,
1988; Islam and Farouq Ali, 1990; Patzek and
Koinis, 1990; Friedmann et al., 1991; Radke
and Ettinger, 1992). Gas trapping may be in-
clude, but no physical description of the trap-
ped fraction as a function of measurable pa-
rameters has been derived. The study described
in this paper investigated the possibility for a
description of foam in porous media that fits
the observations of the gas-blocking state bet-
ter. For this, the mechanisms governing each
of the three stages in the life of a gas-blocking
foam must be described, i.e.:
J.E. HANSSEN
The gas/surfactant displacement generat-
ing foam and gas blockage;
-- Fluid transport through foam at the gas-
blocking state; and
Loss of gas blockage at extended times or
increased differential pressures.
The aim of this paper is to develop a phe-
nomenological understanding of these pro-
cesses consistent with experimental evidence.
This is attempted through the following three
steps:
(1) Pore-level observation in etched-glass
micromodels;
(2) Analysis of selected aspects of beadpack
experiments; and
(3) Measurement of Sw and pressure profiles
in a foam-filled long porous medium.
Pore-level o b s e r v a t i o n s
Etched-glass micromodels are useful tools in
multiphase flow studies, allowing direct obser-
vation of pore-level events, although the ob-
servations are limited to qualitative informa-
tion because of their size and two-
dimensionality. Foam is one area in which mi-
cromodel studies have been instrumental
(Mast, 1972; Owete and Brigham, 1987; Prie-
ditis, 1988; Huh et al., 1989; Armitage and
Dawe, 1990; Radke and Chambers, 1991 ). The
present work was intended to shed light on
phenomena controlling pressure-driven foam
generation and the gas-blocking state.
Micromodel apparatus
Two different micromodels were used, both
strongly water-wet: the first etched with a reg-
ular pore pattern and the second etched from
an enlarged (5x) image of a thin section of
Kuparuk sandstone. Micromodel preparation
has been described in Buckley (1991). The
micromodels used a microscope, an image-re-
cording system, and facilities for feeding fluids
at fixed pressures or rates (Fig. 1 ). The micro-
scope used with the regular model allowed
FOAM AS A GAS-BLOCKINGAGENT IN PETROLEUM RESERVOIRSII
~h - o-3m
inl
'0-0.8bar
Fig. 1. A p p a r a t u s for m i c r o m o d e l studies for foam at pressure-driven conditions.
TABLE 1
Properties of micromodels used
Property Regular
pattern
Pore area length × width ( m m ) 98 × 29
Effective pore depth (#m) 150
Pore throat diameter (/tm) 50
Pore body diameter (#m) 150
Measured internal volume (#1) 165+10
Measured permeability (darcy) 38 _+5
Porosity ~ 0.4
magnifications to 600 ×; a single pore filled the
entire field of view. Precise location of sites was
possible using a frame and an x/y stage. The
regular model was not fused to facilitate clean-
ing, but held together by the frame and a re-
movable adhesive. The micromodel studies
were done at atmospheric outlet pressure, am-
bient temperature, using doubly-distilled fil-
tered water, and nitrogen gas, in the absence
ofoil. Key properties are listed in Table 1. Pore
diameters for the regular model were read from
video images; values for the sandstone model
are those of a previous study (Chambers,
1990). Internal volumes were measured
gravimetrically.
137
~ video
liq- ~ camer^
~ptical
microscope
Observations in regular micromodel
In the regular-pattern model, the pore depth
Sandstone was measured with a mechanical depth gauge
pattern
and porosity was estimated from the number
70 × 44 and area of etched flow channels. The mea-
75-125
25-125
sured permeability is as expected for these pore
150-300 sizes. A gas/water displacement was done first
180+30 and produced lenses, pockets of water and in-
2.2 + 0.5
0.42
stantly coalescing lamellae. Next, the model
was saturated with 0.50% Hostapur SAS and
gas introduced in the same manner. In two re-
peat experiments, AP~ 0.2 bar (all pressures
quoted are absolute) initiated liquid produc-
tion. Generation of lenses, lamellae, and bulk-
like foam occurred within seconds. After the
first minute, leave-behind events as described
by Radke and Chambers (1991) were ob-
served, though lamella generation by snap-off
was rare. No lamellae were seen translating
from pore to pore, and no flow out of the mi-
cromodel was measured. (The term near-zero
flow is used, as flow through minute leaks
rather than the outlet channel cannot be en-
tirely eliminated.) A characteristic "breath-
ing" was noted: Lamellae periodically oscil-
lated in their pore throats, the frequency and
amplitude of oscillation varied in time. The
138
Fig. 2. Foam in a regular-pattern micromodel; 0.5% Hostapur SAS in distilled water; LIP~0.2 bar. Digitized still
photographs.
breathing was transmitted over large areas.
Breathing periods initially lasted for a few
minutes, with stagnant periods in between.
Over the next hour at the original ziP, breath-
ing periods became shorter and stagnant pe-
riods longer.
The gas pressure was next increased to ~ 0.4
bar, which caused breathing to intensify and
some lamellae to rupture in their pore throats.
Lamella generation events occurred, but were
too infrequent for precise identification of the
mechanism. It is believed that a variety of
snap-off mechanisms (Radke and Chambers,
1991 ) must have been operating, because there
was too little liquid left in the pores for gener-
ation by leave-behind and no moving lameUae
that could divide. No sites were seen to pro-
duced multiple lamellae and most of the pore-
level events occurred within the first 10 min
after the pressure increase. About 15 min after
the pressure increase, flowing gas appeared in
the outlet tubing, followed by some foam. Be-
cause no moving lamellae were seen in the po-
J.E. HANSSEN
res, this foam must have formed at the outlet,
which was obscured from view. Foam produc-
tion was short-lived, but gas flow rate kept in-
creasing. A new pressure increase to ~ 0.6 bar
caused gas to flow faster, but no further la-
mella generation events and few additional
ruptures were observed; breathing no longer
occurred. Left overnight, noticeably fewer la-
mellae remained and the gas flow rate contin-
ued to increase.
Figure 2 shows a representative picture of
foam during the period of near-zero gas flow.
Areas outlined in black are gas-flied pore sec-
tions, those outlined in grey contain liquid. The
matrix ("rock") is light grey.
Observations in sandstone micromodel
Foam was generated from 0.50% BioTerge
AS 40, an a-olefin sulfonate, in distilled water.
A somewhat higher gas pressure ( ~ 0 . 3 bar)
than in the regular model was needed to initi-
ate surfactant displacement. Lamella genera-
FOAMASAGAS-BLOCKINGAGENTIN PETROLEUMRESERVOIRSII 139

Fig. 3. Foam in a sandstone-pattern micromodel. Site of lamella generation by snap-off and site of lamella termination
are indicated; 0.5% BioTerge AS 40 in distilled water at 26°C. Digitized video images (composite of two frames). Scale
is indicated by the large pore in upper frame which is approx. 300/~m in diameter.

tion and coalescence was more frequent than
in the regular model, ascribed to the greater
number of sites of suitable geometry and as-
pect ratio in the heterogeneous model, because
both surfactants produce strong foams. In con-
trast to the regular model, flow of foam and
gas out of the model was seen from the start,
progressively more dominated by gas as the
model became depleted of surfactant. Fewer
generation sites were active, and for shorter
periods of time. The end result was a continu-
ous-gas foam of little flow resistance.
During the period of active generation and
coalescence, several sites for snap-off and ter-
mination were examined. Events in different
sites were often coupled. A typical snap-off site
140
at a narrow pore constriction is indicated on
Fig. 3. Lamellae generated there moved rap-
idly through a tortuous pore channel and into
the large pore body which was a termination
site for thousands of lamellae, broken by
"stretching and squeezing", or capillary-pres-
sure-induced coalescence (Radke and Jime-
nez, 1989; Radke and Chambers, 1991 ). Note
the lamellae just in the process of breaking.
These two sites were always active simultane-
ously, for several periods of 5-10 min. Site
coupling was very strong: not a single lamella
broke on its way from site to site, and very few
survived the killer site to move further
downstream.
The liquid contained in the flowing lamellae
was seen to splash over the pore wall of the
killer site as they broke. Despite the transport
of large volumes of gas at high rate, no flow or
accumulation of liquid was observed in the
downstream pores. Between periods of activ-
ity, the flow channel connecting the two sites
was static; only a few lamellae were situated
near the generation site, displaying no curva-
ture. Thus, there cannot have been any pres-
sure difference between the sites during inac-
tive periods, when flow must have been
occurring elsewhere in the model. Liquid from
the dead lamellae may have flowed back to the
generation site during these inactive periods.
A new cycle of generation, bubble-train flow
and termination would start when enough liq-
uid had collected at the generation site and a
higher local gas pressure was applied triggered
by some random event. The significance of
these observations to gas-blocking foam is that
a net flow of gas, impeded by moving lamellae,
is conceivable without an associated net, time-
averaged flow of liquid.
Summary of micromodel observations
Persistent gas blockage was not achieved in
the two micromodels, although gas flow was
blocked for some time in the regular m o d e l .
The lack of gas blockage in the sandstone
J.E.HANSSEN
model is most likely due to the enlargement
from the actual rock pores. Gas blockage is
difficult to achieve in media with very large
pores (Holm and Bernard, 1964; Hanssen and
Haugum, 1991; Hanssen, 1993 ). The low per-
sistence of gas blockage in the regular model is
ascribed to the insufficient length of the flow
path (Hanssen and Haugum, 1991; Hanssen,
1993 ). Howevr, several valuable observations
in understanding gas blockage were made:
At near-zero gas flow rates, foam was not
entirely stagnant but subject to periodic oscil-
lations of stationary lamellae.
When AP was increased at near-zero gas rate,
lamellae or bubble trains were not mobilized.
Rather, lamellae were broken, opening more
pore channels to gas flow. Generation of new
lamellae was observed for a brief period after
a AP increase.
Lamellae may move on a pore scale, imped-
ing gas, e.g., from a generation site to a termi-
nation site, without necessarily causing a mac-
roscopic net flow of liquid.
Analysis of pressure-driven foam generation
In systems favorable for the generation of
gas-blocking foam, a distinct displacement
front forms after some distance of travel
(Raza, 1970; Hanssen, 1993 ) as illustrated on
Fig. 4. The near piston-like nature of the re-
maining displacement facilitates a simple
analysis that can provide information about
the growing foam without advanced in situ
measurement techniques. The analysis is based
on only what is termed the external data: pro-
duction, inlet and outlet pressures, and front
L
!iquidout
gasin ~ Xf
Fig. 4. Typical front behavior in fixed-pressuregas/sur-
factant solutiondisplacementin systemsfavorablefor the
creation of a gas-blockingfoam.
FOAM AS A G A S - B L O C K I N G A G E N T IN P E T R O L E U M RESERVOIRS II 141

positions observed visually in a transparent 1 '

ji .....................
' i ' ~ ' i lO
pack.
Assuming the presence of gas near the col-
umn walls to be identical to the pressure front
I
co ~ t
3
~
£
~L
(verified later), the overall/IP can be split be- -~ O.t 0.1 ~
tween the section behind the front where foam
is assumed to be present everywhere, and the
O.Ol ~
section ahead of the front where only surfac- ..... Sgf - - - API" ~2
tant solution is present. Darcy's law can then Xf • APli q g
be applied separately to each section. Ignoring 0.01
i I I I ,__
0.001 "
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
gas compressibility: Foam front advance, xF

AP= APf + AP,iq ( 1) Fig. 5. Properties of growing foam in a pressure-driven

gas/surfactant displacement, calculated from data in
A e l i q ]cA = Og,in = Q (2) Hanssen (1993) using eqs. 1-4. N 2 displacing 2% Sul-
Qliq,out- ( 1 -xf)Lflliq fotex R I F in distilled water in a 200-cm pack of 8 darcy
glass beads, 21 ° C, AP= 1.5 bar, Pout ~ 5 bar; no oil.
Q(xfL) 33
2 f - - - - (3)
APfA
S~f = 1 x f - Vp,liq (4) (a)
xf
Produced liquid Vp,~iqis in pore volumes (at
mean pressures of Pi, and Po,t); gas saturation
in foam Sgf (foam quality) and foam mobility
).f are averaged over the growing foam. Foam
mobility ( 2 = k / # ) is used for convenience; at
this stage of the displacement two phases are ,
x,(tO xl/v xfl(t) x/L
still flowing, so free-gas viscosity cannot be
1 I- . . . .
used. The relative mobility reduction can be I

compared with gas-blockage performance data Sw I (b)

I
by multiplying the values of 2f by ,uJk. The ~t 1
application of Eqs. 1-4 to a previous experi- ,
I
t2
t3
ment (Hanssen, 1993) is shown in Fig. 5.
The foam front stabilized at a position x/
L,~ 0.12 and from there propagated at a nearly ... . .. . .. . ... . .. . .. . -o t~o
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
constant velocity of ~ 6 m / d . Note that most
of the pressure drop occurred across the foam 0 '
x,(tO xl/v t x/L
xfl(3)
from the first measurement. This agrees with Fig. 6. Constructed pressure (a) and water-saturation
the micromodel observations of immediate la- profiles (b) for a growing strong foam in a piston-like,
mella generation. The foam zone grew at a pressure-driven displacement.
constant gas saturation of 0.80-0.85, a mobil-
ity three orders of magnitude lower than the no foam was produced out of the pack but liq-
surfactant-free case. uid continued to drain slowly as the system was
The last measured mobility during growth of approaching its first gas-blocking state, at
the foam bank corresponds (using the viscos- which kgf was measured as 2.3 mD. Consider-
ity of free gas) to 3.6 mD. After breakthrough, ing the accuracy of the data and analysis, this
142
compares well with the last measured mobility
during foam growth and indicates that the
generation of foam and the establishment of a
gas-blocking state is a continuous process.
From the above analysis and only using ex-
ternal data, the model in Fig. 6 is constructed.
The pressure and saturation profiles are shown
for various points in time. The measured over-
all saturations and observed uniformity sup-
port the dashed lines for Sw. The average Sw
behind the front is known at any time from Eq.
4. The pressure profiles for the liquid-contain-
ing portion of the pack, shown by solid lines,
are known by Eq. 2, and the value at x / L = 0 is
known. Over long periods, indications are that
the pressure profile is uniform. As the present
experiments provide no support for any other
shape, straight lines are drawn to the observed
location of the foam front xf(ti). Below, this
simplistic model is tested on experimental data
with measured Sw and P profiles. The model
can be extended to include residual oil satura-
tion and gas compressibility.
Measurement of in situ Sw and AP profiles
Quantitative saturation and pressure pro-
files during pressure-driven foam generation
and at the gas-blocking state was desirable in
order to validate the foam generation model,
test the conclusions of previous work from ex-
ternal data, and give information on the loss
of gas blockage. A bead pack with multiple
pressure taps was built and used in a flow ap-
paratus with measurement of in situ water sat-
urations by microwave attenuation.
Microwave apparatus
A microwave apparatus for displacement
studies was described by previous investiga-
tors (Sharma, 1987; Ettinger, 1989; Gillis,
1990). Local water saturation is measured by
the attenuation of a microwave beam. A metal
frame with a wave source, guides and detec-
J.E. HANSSEN
tors moves in the x- and y-directions by means
of two stepper motors, allowing scans of the
porous medium mounted on a table (see Fig.
7).
A rectangular flow cell of packed-volume di-
mensions 95× 10× 1 cm was made from two
half-cells of transparent polymethyl methac-
rylate joined by a flat rubber gasket, with re-
movable inlet and outlet pieces. The cell has
nine pressure taps in capillary contact with the
packing and features for re-tightening. It was
packed with 45-70/tm glass beads giving a pore
volume of 380 cm 3 and a permeability of 1.7
and 1.5 darcy, respectively, in two different
packings. Designed for 7 bar, the cell was op-
erated at 3.5 bar and 26 °C.
A BASIC program incorporating routines by
Sharma (1987) was written to control the ap-
paratus from an IBM XT computer and to re-
cord saturation and pressure data as ASCII
files. Via two serial ports and a parallel port,
the computer controls the entire apparatus, al-
lowing flexible setup and unattended opera-
tion. For this experiment, a scan time of 2 s
per location was used, covering 47 measure-
ment points at x = 16.5-86.4 cm in 2 min with
an accuracy in Sw of _+0.001 PV. Use of longer
scan times will improve resolution. Pressures
were measured to effectively _+0.01 bar.
The input of gas to the beadpack was at fixed
pressure. Gas can also be fed at fixed mass rate
via a mass flow controller. A displacement
pump delivers liquid at a fixed volumetric rate.
Fluids flow out of the pack controlled by a sen-
sing-piston back pressure regulator and are
separated in an atmospheric separator allow-
ing readings of liquid volume and gas rate by a
bubble flowmeter. The foaming agent used in
the test reported here was 0.50% Fenopon CD
128, an ammonium alkyl ethoxysulfate, in dis-
tilled water. It was chosen for its known ten-
dency to form rather weak gas-blocking foams
at test conditions, allowing breakdown as well
as generation of foam to be observed over
practical observation times.
FOAM AS A G A S - B L O C K I N G A G E N T IN P E T R O L E U M RESERVOIRS II 143

microwave
transmitter

P2 P3 P4 P5 P6 P7 P8 P9

~ ~'
Pu mp
Pl - P9 at x = 5, 15, 25... cm.
Microwave receiver below pack.
Gas rate
Liquid
volu me
Gas in BPR = back pressure regulator. I I

Fig. 7. Schematic representation of scanning microwave saturation flow apparatus with rectangular beadpack used. For
details of microwave equipment, see Sharma (1987) and Ettinger ( 1989 ).

External observations
1.0 i ' ' 500

Production and pressure histories in the mi- ~ gas & foam

~- gas only
foam . . . .
crowave experiment are shown in Fig. 8. As 098 400

expected, the foam was a rather poor gas-

0.96 300
blocking agent. The front moved rapidly
through the pack, followed by a long period of = 0.94 200 o

foam flow. The gas rate did not stabilize after o_

liquid production ceased. Still, gas mobility 092 100

was reduced by a factor of 40 or more through J : ~ (a)

the passage of 500 pore volumes of gas. 0.90 , I , I r , 0
5.0
The improved gas blockage over that by the 0.o25
same surfactant in 8-darcy beads, where a kgf/ 0.020 4.0
k ~ 0 . 1 was measured (Hanssen, 1993), is
probably due to a lower permeability in the o.015 3.0

present test. The performance of this particu-

lar foam at these mild conditions is in fact a 0.olo 2.0

good model for that of a rather oil-sensitive /~ (b)

foam at reservoir conditions. 0.005 Front P
1.0

kgf / k ........ Back P

0.000 i I k I 0.0
Saturations and pressures 0 72 144 216 288 360

Time, hours

Several saturation scans are shown in the

upper diagram of Fig. 9. An unexpectedly long Fig. 8. Performance history of 0.5% Fenopon CD128 foam
gas finger (for a foam) to x / L ~ 0 . 2 is seen, due in microwave apparatus. (a) Production and (b) gas
to imperfect packing. Once stabilized at x~ permeability and pressures. See text for details.
144 J.E. HANSSEN

I ,r ~ I ..j " ' ~ I ~l ' -- \'

• I' ' " I

\, 1

0.8 Time of scan

(hours):

1,I . . . . 0.10
0.6 ,' '~ I - - 0 . 1 6
. . . . 0.37
r" '1 -- -- - 0.62
03
- - 1.02

0.4 ....... 3.02

.... 6.09
- - - 20.0

- - 143

0.2

I L h ~ , , I , I ~ L
0

4.2

4.0 Time of scan

(hours)

..... 0,126
x~ 3.8 -- -- 0,188
- - 0.398
- - - 0.587
tO . . . . 0,727
- - 0.984
3.6
13_ ........ 20.2
- - - - 195

3.4

3.2
0.1 0.3 0.5 0.7 0.9

x/L

F i g . 9. Measured saturation (top) and pressure ( b o t t o m ) profiles for foam # 2 0 7 .

L ~ 0 . 4 , the front was piston-like for the re- tions must be the same and capillary end ef-
maining displacement, and saturations in the fects insignificant.
bypassed area were homogenized a few hours The Sw data agree well with other results ob-
after breakthrough. The long period of inter- tained on foam at pressure-driven conditions.
mittent gas and foam production appears in the For eight different Hostapur SAS foams in 8-
Sw scans as a continuous drying. When liquid darcy packs, at ambient temperature without
flow ceased after four days, Sw had a uniform oil, overall aqueous-phase saturations of 0.04
value of 0.03 _+0.005. The average saturation, to 0.06 ( _+0.01 ) pore volume were obtained
calculated from produced volume, was found by material balance (Meling, 1989). There was
to agree within _ 0.003 pore volumes with the no additional liquid production observed dur-
integral of Sw in the scanned section. Thus, ing several days of blockage, when up to 100
saturations in the scanned and unscanned por- pore volumes of gas (at mean column pres-
FOAM AS A GAS-BLOCKING AGENT IN PETROLEUM RESERVOIRS II
sure) flowed through at mobilities reduced by
two to four orders of magnitude. Visual obser-
vation at the onset of gas blockage showed that
the surfactant solution was distributed uni-
formly across the foam-filled pack. Similarly,
Sw values of 0.03-0.05 during gas blockage
were measured for Sulfotex RIF, BioTerge AS
40, and CD 128 foams in 1-m long beadpacks
(Hanssen, 1993 ). It is more difficult to obtain
accurate saturation data in the presence of oil
at high temperatures, but three experiments on
0.5% Fluowet OTN in seawater, with crude oil
at 70°C in 8 darcy beads, gave Sw values of
0.04-0.08 (Hanssen and Dalland, 1991).
Comparable residual nonwetting-phase satu-
rations for the same 8-darcy medium in the
absence of foam gave values of Swrg= 0.13 and
Swro= 0.11 +_0.02; the latter is an average of 24
floods (Hanssen and Dalland, 1990). With
foam under comparable conditions, others
have also reported water saturations below
"irreducible" (Holm, 1968; Prieditis, 1988).
Steady-state foam flow has consistently been
associated with Sw values above connate
(Holm and Bernard, 1964; De Vries and Wit,
1990; Chou, 1991; Persoff et al., 1991; Radke
and Ettinger, 1992 ).
The favorable mobility ratio of the growing
foam displacing surfactant cannot explain the
lower value of Sw, because at breakthrough,
Sw> Swrr After breakthrough, a slow drainage
of liquid continues until gas flow stabilizes. Ef-
ficient drainage is conceivable, because with
foam, gas does not flow in continuous chan-
nels as in normal two-phase flow (Holm,
1968). Capillary pressure suction, driven by
the curvature of the contact areas between la-
mellae and pore walls, will continue to drain
liquid from a lamella, possibly until a local sat-
uration has been attained corresponding to a
balance between Pc and the disjoining pressure
zr of the foam film. Stability criteria for static
and flowing lamellae are different (Radke and
Jimenez, 1989 ), i.e., stagnant foam is not nec-
essarily broken at conditions when flowing
145
foam would collapse by the overall Pc exceed-
ing the critical P* (Khatib et al., 1988). The
extremely low values of Sw in the present ex-
periments are probably caused by evaporation
into flowing gas that is not equilibrated with
the liquid phase in the foam (see later) and by
the regularity of beadpacks, which lack the
small pores that hold most of the aqueous
phase in steady-state foam flow in sandstone
(Radke and Gillis, 1990). Two experiments in
1.3-darcy Bentheimer sandstone cores (Hans-
sen and Dalland, 1991 ) gave Sw values of0.18
and 0.2 l, i.e., comparable with flow of foam
through the same rock (De Vries and Wit,
1990), although gas blockage was as strong as
in beads with the same permeability. Thus, es-
tablishment of an overall Sw< Swrgis not a req-
uisite for reaching the gas-blocking state of
foam. The comparable efficiency of gas block-
age in cores and beadpacks suggests that the
actual gas-blocking foam is of a similar dry na-
ture in both media but the sandstone also con-
tains free water in the smallest pores.
The fact that as little as one percent of liquid
in the form of foam lamellae can maintain a
large mobility reduction over long periods is
remarkable. It has two main ramifications.
First, the lamellae must be exceedinglythin, as
has also been suggested by recent studies cor-
relating foam properties in porous media with
the stability of thin surfactant films (Berge-
ron, 1993 ). A bimolecular soap film only 4 nm
thick was preserved for a year in a sealed con-
tainer (Dewar, 1917). In porous media, thin
films would be supported by the pore walls, al-
though they would be destabilized by the ran-
dom perturbations caused by abrupt changes
of the gas flow path (Huh et al., 1989), and by
diffusion. Second, the capillary pressure in
media of low Sw are high, so that a moving la-
mella would break rapidly by capillary-pres-
sure-induced coalescence (Khatib et al., 1988 ).
The persistent mobility reduction in such dry
porous media is yet another indication of stag-
nant lamellae.
The pressures, on the lower diagram of Fig.
146 J.E. HANSSEN

3.8
/ '. 1 1 I I I ' r T ' I ' a ' I I
\ Sw:
1
\ - - 22 rain • ~ predicted, 15 m i n [
3.7 - - 26 rain
\ 0.8 0.8 : ", ~ ....... d, 13-15 rain. (

\ ". ~ :l 0.8
3.6
\ 0.6 0.6 - ~'z~,-
\
3.5

\ 0.4
0.4 . 04
3.4

\ 0.2
3.3
Pressure profile \ _ - predicted. 15 min
- 24 min ---- measured, 12 rain.
3.2 I I I 0 0 i i , I i i i I J i , i i i I i , -i- 0
0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9
1 ' ' ' I ' ' ' ] ~w
~ :1 ' I ' ~ ' ~ ' i ,

x/L predicted, 26 rain. 'i ~:: ~ ' ~ ' - ~ 1

-
0.8 measured. 22-24 m i n :
Fig. 10. Measured saturation and pressure profiles at
t = 22-26 min. O.8

0.6 "'. i--~

9, increased during the first 24 h, mostly in the
first section of the pack as by-passed liquid was ~ 04 o4

produced, and became later constant. In con-

trast to Sw, the pressure profile does not be-
come uniform, but retains distinct slopes in the __ - -- predicted
me?u,ed:2
264rain
, , , ,
-'" (b) J
0 '--'- 0
section of initial bypassing and the section of 0.2 0.4
y/I
0.6 0.8 1

piston-like movement. This conservation of Fig. 11. Measuredand predictedSwand Pprofilesfor foam
local AP/Ax is typical of gas-blocking foams #207 usingthe "APsplit method" describedabove,at (a)
and has some practical consequences, e.g., in 15 min; and (b) 26 min.
requiring great care when emptying a used
pack. More important for reservoir applica- comparison of measured Sw and P profiles with
tion is that a gas-blocking foam can be regen- predictions using Eqs. 3 and 4, using only ex-
erated by reapplying a gas pressure (Hanssen ternal observations in the present experiment,
et al., 1989; Chou, 1991 ) because the lamellae are shown in Fig. 11. The agreement is quite
remain largely intact. Note also that the pres- good, considering the bypassing in the imper-
sure slope across a foam-filled section of po- fect pack, the rapid front movement and the
rous medium is at its steepest during the initial simplistic nature of the predictive equations.
passage of the front. This is favorable to trap-
ping of lameUae (Marsden and Albrecht, Loss of gas blockage by evaporation
1970).
Combining the Sw and P data at correspond- Sw scans between 144 and 335 h are shown
ing times, Fig. 10, shows the positions of the in Fig. 12. Liquid saturation first drops uni-
pressure and saturation fronts to coincide. formly to ~0.015. Then, zero liquid is re-
Foam generation, therefore, must occur at or corded at the frontmost location. The dry sec-
close to the gas front, and front positions ob- tion, having developed from the inlet,
served on transparent packs are valid. continues to grow with the passage of more gas
through the pack. In previous experiments us-
Predicted versus measured profiles ing dye in the aqueous phase, slight color gra-
dients have been seen. With hindsight, these
The characteristics of pressure-driven foam observations are taken in support of the mi-
generation were confirmed. Quantitative crowave data, and conclude that gas blockage
FOAM AS A GAS-BLOCKINGAGENT IN PETROLEUM RESERVOIRSII
0.04
t I
/,
0.03
cO
_--
0.02
0.01
0
0.1
/
0.2 0.3
Fig. 12. M e a s u r e d water s a t u r a t i o n s in the later period o f foam # 2 0 7 .
in these experiments is broken by the foam
drying from the pack inlet. Evaporation is not
surprising since, with the standard procedure
used, gas is not pre-equilibrated with the
foamed liquid. The rising gas rate as the foam
is drying agrees with the length dependence of
gas blockage (Chou, 1991; Hanssen and
Haugum, 1991; Hanssen, 1993 ), because the
growing dry section in effect makes the foam
shorter. In stronger foams, gas blockage often
is lost in a faster, more catastrophic manner.
Foam decay by evaporation will occur when
the flowing gas phase is not in equilibrium with
the liquid constituting the foam films, as is
demonstrated by the above results. In the mi-
crowave experiment, 207 pore volumes of gas
(at mean pressure ) were transported through
the foam-filled pack between 220 and 336 h.
In the same period, the Sw data show that the
porous medium has lost 2.3 cm 3 of water,
which must has been produced as vapor. The
volume corresponds to a H20 partial pressure
of 0.011; the saturated vapor pressure is 0.037.
Gas thus did not become saturated in water
even after stripping all the water from the first
half of the pack. This poor mass transfer indi-
cates that most of the liquid is effectively
147
I I ]
Time o t s c a n , hours
-- 143.62
-- -- -171.97
\ f ~ ..... 195.81
220.08
-- 240.64
..... 270.53
. . . . 309.64
- -- 335.56
/ 0.4
,."i0.5 0.6
x/L
"shielded" from the flowing gas because it ex-
ists in trapped foam. This trend is found in all
the effective gas-blocking foams studied. The
gas volume transported through foam at
blockage is in all cases greater than expected if
gas became saturated in the foamed liquid.
There is, however, no consistent correlation
between gas volume and foam gas-blocking ef-
ficiency, or with the liquid saturation at the
onset of blockage (Hanssen and Dalland, 1991;
Hanssen and Haugum, 199 l; Hanssen, 1993).
Evaporation from a gas-blocking foam is dif-
ficult to model as one cannot assume equilib-
rium. Rates of evaporation are influenced by
the presence of surfactant, and will depend on
the type and concentration of surfactant as well
as on the thickness and structure of the liquid
film.
The role of evaporation in gas blockage by a
strong foam is seen in Fig. 13. A more persist-
ent foam resulted from bubbling gas through a
fluid cell containing water at injection pres-
sure and slightly below column temperature,
partially presaturating it. Due to liquid drop-
out problems, a presaturator is not used in the
present gas-blockage test procedure, which
emphasizes repeatability and relative per-
148 J.E.I-IANSSEN

0.010 r f Gas transport through foam

0.008
0.006
0.004
0.002
• • 2 - - -
dry
N 2 ÷ H20 vapor
I L I h I F
100 200 300 400
Pore volumes gas injected
Fig. 13. Gas blockageperformance of 1% Fluowet OTN
foams in 200-cm packs of 8 darcy beads, gas dry or par-
tially saturated in H20 as indicated. T= 70°C, Pout~6 bar,
AP~ 2 bar/m, sea water, Sotof crude oil. (Replotted from
data in Hanssen and Dalland, 1991).
formance evaluation. It follows that the mea-
sured persistence of a gas-blocking foam,
whether expressed as blockage time or pore
volumes of gas transported, is useful in rank-
ing foams but does not scale to field condi-
tions. For the use of foam as a gas-coning bar-
rier, evaporation is not likely to limit foam
stability, because foam is created by reservoir
gas which will be in equilibrium with both oil
and water. However, in foam applications
where a non-equilibrated gas is injected, evap-
oration could be important.
With static foam and equilibrated gas, only
diffusion remains as a decay mechanism. Re-
cent studies (D. Cohen, T.W. Patzek, C.J.
Radke, unpublished work, 1993) indicate that
Network model
Gas-blocking foams typically show a nonlin-
ear response of flow to applied pressure. The
yield point frequently observed and the power-
law dependence of gas flow on AP suggested a
percolation approach. A square, two-dimen-
sional network model was defined with non-
L
500
linear element characteristics (Fig. 14):
0
q= a(Ap-Apt)
for dp<dpt
for Ap>Apt (6)
Let us assume that the conductances a are
constant for all elements, and that the micro-
scopic pressure thresholds Apt is uniformly
distributed within a range 0-1. The macro-
scopic response of this network was calculated
numerically by Moe (1989) as:
for AP<~AP-r
0
I
Q= al (AP-APT) '~ for APT <AP<APH
(a2AP for AP>~APn
(7)
The power exponent a ~ 2 for a wide pore
size distribution, al and a2 are constant con-
ductances, APT is the macroscopic threshold
pressure into a regime of power-law depen-
dence on reduced pressure, and APH is a next
threshold for transition into a linear regime.
The resemblance of this theory to the present

/
diffusion in confined foams rapidly (order of
minutes) causes the liquid films to adjust their
position in the pores to have no AP across the
films. Further diffusion is then limited to a
small flux in a few blocked channels in which
there is still some AP. This is unlikely to cause ..._
massive foam decay, cf., the lack of gas/liquid Apt Ap
equilibration.
Fig. 14. Flow rate/differential pressure relationship for
one network element.
FOAM AS A GAS-BLOCKING AGENT IN PETROLEUM RESERVOIRS II 149

problem of stagnant foam subjected to an in- 0,008

O C13
creasing gas pressure gradient is readily seen. n C15
A C17 & /
The gas permeability of different foams should 0,006 • Blend //FI.[].
linearfit of all data ~ " / -
fall on a c o m m o n straight line when plotted as
A
a function of (AP-dPx)a/AP. ~ 0,004

Comparison with experiments

0,002

A set of gas-blockage data from Hanssen and , ~ l I~ll , i , i ,

0,000
Meling (1990) was used to test the network 0 10 20 30 40
2.5
model. Foams generated in pressure-driven (AP-APt) lAP
displacements of surfactant solution by gas
reached a gas-blocking state with gas only en- Fig. 16. Fit of data of Fig. 15 using the relationship de-
rived from the network model.
tering and exiting the pack. Pressure drop was
increased step-wise, the stabilized Qs and AP
were measured at each successive gas-blocking 0.02 0 C13 SAS hexadecane(APt= 2 bar; [] /
state. The data are presented in Fig. 15 as flow [] C15 SAS,hexadecaneI',Pt = 0) /
A SAS blendoctaneiAPt = 0p /
rates at mean pressure. Figure 16 shows the
~10 , 0 , -- Linear
~ frtof afllata
m O• ~[]
same data replotted to kgf/k versus normal-
ized and reduced pressure drop, in accordance
with the network model. Threshold pressures
were found by second-order polynomial fits on
the Q versus AP data and the best-fit exponent
a = 2.5 was found by trial-and-error linear fits
0,00
on the kgf v e r s u s [ (AP-AP-r)'VAP] data; the 10 20
linear correlation coefficient r~ =0.93. Fits at (AP - AP 2t2 )/AP
c~< 2 or a > 3 could be distinguished visually Fig. 17. Generalization of data for foams at residual oil
and gave rl ~<0.90. The accuracy is good con- using the derived relationship. (Replotted from experi-
sidering the spread in the original measure- mental data of Meling, 1989).

ments. Two points for C17SAS may be outside

10 O_ C13:&Pt= 1.6 bar ,1~
[] C15:APt= 0 / / /
the power-law regime and higher r~ values re-
8 A C17:APt = 0 / // / sult if these are excluded.
: = .
A data set for the same surfactants in the
presence of oil (Sor~0.05) was also general-
ized by a [ (AP-dPr)'~/,dP] function, (see Fig.
17). The match is poorer, q = 0 . 9 0 , but still
quite convincing, taking into account the less
effective mobility reduction which impairs the
quality of gas-blockage data. The best-fit value
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
of a was 2.2, not significantly different from
AP / L, bar/m
the oil-free data. The agreement between the
Fig. 15. Data for foams consisting of 0.5% Hostapur SAS; two sets of data is taken as an indication that
indicated carbon number fractions in 100-cm 8 darcy
beadpacks at 21 ° C, Pout~ 7 bar, no oil. Lines are inter-
residual oil does not change the flow mecha-
polated, threshold pressures indicated. (Replotted from nism of gas through a gas-blocking foam.
Hanssen et al., 1990). The success of this simple modeling ap-
150
proach shows the power of network modelling.
For future work, the model could be extended
to include more percolation features. As a first
test, it would be of interest to compare predic-
tions with data for well-characterized hetero-
geneous media to examine the influence of
pore size distribution. Next, measurable terms
could be developed for the percolation thresh-
old to predict the macroscopic APr. Because of
the complexity of calculating on a large non-
linear network, however, the main potential of
networks in modeling foam is not as simula-
tion tools but as scale-up tools from pore level
to macroscopic level. The network model can
be used to derive physically based foam be-
havior equations that could be used to inter-
pret data at conditions where in situ observa-
tion is not possible.
Hysteresis
Hysteresis is sometimes observed in gas-
blockage experiments. If, after a step-wise in-
crease cycle, differential pressure is reduced to
a previous level, a different kgf/k may be ob-
tained. Hysteresis for two foams is shown in
Foam #206
_ o.ol
0.00! Foam #205
0 2 4 6
AWL, bar/m
Fig. 18. Measured values of kgf/k for foam at increasing
and decreasing AP in 100 cm, 8-darcy beadpacks at 25 ° C,
Foam #205 is 0.83% BioTerge 1416 (an c~-olefin sulfo-
nate). Foam #206 is 0.50% Fenopon CD 128 (an am-
monium alkyl ethoxy sulfate). Initial PoutS7 bar, AP/
L ~ l . 5 bar/m. Solvent: 0.83% NaC1 brine. No oil,
Aqueous-phase saturation during foam tests ,~ 0.03.
J.E. HANSSEN
Fig. 18. The foam of the lower diagram gave a
lower kgf/k value in the first hysteresis cycle
but a higher one in the second cycle. The first
cycle shows that an efficient gas-blocking foam
can regain or surpass its original gas-blocking
ability if the pressure is eased. The second cycle
shows that its regenerative capacity may be
limited (in this case, due to evaporation) so
that permeability remains at the highest pre-
vious level. Some foams are initially too weak
gas-blocking agents and display only the irre-
versible shear thinning.
Discussion
In their pioneering work on modeling foam
in porous media, Shell researchers (Falls et al.,
1988) differentiated between continuous-gas
foams and discontinuous-gas foams. For gas to
flow in a discontinuous-gas foam, lamellae
must be forced through the pore network.
Continuous-gas foams were considered to re-
duce gas mobility only by a factor of 5-10. In
the present results, the gas-blocking state of
foam is consistently associated with no lamel-
lae exiting the porous medium, but the large
mobility reduction associated with gas flow
and the nonlinear response of gas mobility to
increased differential pressure are not in line
with the above picture of continuous-gas
foams.
Prieditis (1988) generated foams by fixed-
rate coinjection in a 35-cm pack of 75-85/zm
beads ( k = 2 . 9 darcy) or 81-900 /tm beads
( k = 10 darcy). After a period of steady-state
flow, gas mobility was measured as a function
of gas and liquid rates over wide ranges includ-
ing zero. At zero liquid rate, the data of Prie-
ditis consistently showed gas mobility to be in-
dependent of the gas rate. This Newtonian
rheology was interpreted as no lamellae being
in the path of the gas, i.e., gas flows in a con-
stant number of continuous channels created
during the establishment of steady-state foam
flow.
These observations contrast with the pres-
F O A M AS A G A S - B L O C K I N G A G E N T I N P E T R O L E U M R E S E R V O I R S II
ent findings of mobility increasing with ap-
plied ziP (or Qg) by orders of magnitude, and
are more in line with those reported by Holm
(Holm and Bernard, 1964; Holm, 1968) who
demonstrated the absence of continuous chan-
nels by the use of a gas tracer. Figure 19 com-
pares the present results to those of Prieditis.
The difference between the two sets of experi-
ments is in the mode of foam generation.
The pressure-driven foam data sets were se-
lected to show the generality of the observed
behavior, including a model system, a fluoro-
surfactant foam at 70°C with crude oil, and a
non-aqueous foam. The data sets of Prieditis
were selected for constant Sw during the pe-
riod of no liquid flow. The effects of the exper-
iment mode can be explained by considering
the local ziP/zix, the driving force for lamella
generation. This is finite in a pressure-driven
displacement of surfactant solution by gas, but
essentially unlimited at rate-driven coinjection
of gas and surfactant. The effect is demon-
strated most clearly in porous media of suffi-
cient length to allow the formation of a stabi-
lized foam front (Chou, 1991; Hanssen and
Haugum, 1991; Hanssen, 1993).
At fixed pressures, gas fingers or tongues
form initially, as in the rate-driven mode. La-
0.020
Priedifis, Table 7 1 4
•
•
Prleditis, Table 7 1 7
Pneclitis, Table 71 16
0.015
(]} 05% Perlankrol FN 65
[) 2% FC 742 (IPA foam)
A 05% FFuow~tOTN
• •
- 0.010
• ¢
• /
0.005
• #i * Z
0.000 , Z~F-- , T ~ i ........
10 100
vg, m/d
Fig. 19. Relative gas mobility as a function of gas veloc-
ity, at zero liquid flow, of foams generated by rate-driven
coinjection in 2.9 and 10 darcy beadpacks, (Prieditis,
1988); and in the pressure-driven mode in 8 darcy bead-
packs (Hanssen and Dalland, 1990; Hanssen and
Haugum, 1991; Hanssen, 1993).
151
mellae are generated at the gas front. The same
lamella-generation processes should operate in
either mode, to the extent that the same con-
ditions of velocity, saturation and capillary
pressure at the pore level apply. The difference
between experiment modes is one of different
boundary conditions influencing the relative
importance of the various processes. Lamellae
are created first in the larger pores with the
lowest capillary entry pressure Poe and, flowing
or stagnant, impede further gas flow. For dis-
placement to proceed, the advancing gas must
now pass through a section of growing foam,
whether the foam is viewed as propagating or
simply considered as more lamellae to be gen-
erated further downstream. The flow resis-
tance of the foam section thus increases with
its length, being proportional to "the number
of lamellae and the strength of individual
films" (Holm, 1968 ). Here lies the key differ-
ence between pressure-driven and rate-driven
foam generation, or, precisely, between fixed-
rate coinjection and fixed-pressure gas
injection.
In coinjection, the growing foam produces a
rising inlet pressure to accommodate the
transport of the imposed volume. This has
profound effects on further foam generation.
The rising pressure exceeds the Poe of smaller
pores, generating more lamellae, causing yet
higher flow resistance and higher 3P/ZIx. The
/ latter may mobilize previously trapped lamel-
/ ~ lae, resuming flow as bubble trains and con-
• QL ,/C) /J
tributing more pressure buildup (Persoff et al.,
/6 ; 1991 ). The net result is a massive generation
/
y of new lamellae and destruction of those ini-
[]
tially formed, until a state is reached where
generation and coalescence are in equilibrium
i . . . . . . . and the trapped fraction is constant but less
103
than 1. This state is associated with an overall
pressure gradient 3P/L in excess of those in
most reservoirs, even at low rates.
At a fixed differential pressure, however, the
net effect of foam generation is to slow down
the displacement front as the growing foam
consumes more of the limited driving force.
152
Gas fingering is dampened, the front sharpens
and may stabilize as piston-like (Hanssen,
1993). This promotes trapping of lamellae,
because the local ziP/zix never exceeds that
during their generation. The result is a conser-
vation of the original lamellae. If initial foam
generation at the front is very efficient, nearly
all pore throats are blocked by a liquid film,
and growth of the foam bank stops at a few
centimetres length resulting in complete plug-
ging of gas and liquid. In less perfect cases,
many initial lamellae are destroyed shortly
after generation (cf., the micromodel obser-
vations) and a few flow paths develop through
the foam, allowing gas to flow at low mobility.
The observation of no produced liquid phase
during gas blockage precludes gas from being
transported by moving lamellae over sample-
spanning distances. If lamellae were translat-
ing at pack length scales, even though each
contains only a minute volume of liquid, the
large gas volumes transported would necessi-
tate at least an accumulation of liquid near the
outlet. This is consistently not observed. Mi-
cromodel observations in this paper indicate
that gas flow may occur at distances greater
than a pore diameter, but shorter than the
length of a long core or pack, without associ-
ated net flow of liquid, by the operation of pe-
riodic time-averaged bubble train flow alter-
nating with liquid washback. The hysteresis
data in this paper suggest that strong gas-
blocking foams may regain their gas blocking
ability upon reduction of ZIPas the result ofla-
mella regeneration. Foams less effective in
blocking gas develop continuous gas channels
when subjected to high ziP which do not close
again if ZIPis reduced. This points out the need,
in field application, for replenishing liquid
either by injectant within the treated volume,
or by repeated injection.
Fixed-rate gas injection is intermediate be-
tween rate-driven coinjection and pressure-
driven gas injection. Inlet pressure may rise,
reflecting the higher resistance of forcing the
number of lamellae needed to transport a given
J.E. HANSSEN
volume, starting the sequence of rising Pc and
generating lamellae in smaller pores as in coin-
jection. But since liquid is not being replen-
ished, the lamella generation rate will drop and
paths of continuous gas will form. Interpreting
such experiments, especially at low pressures,
is complicated by the use of mass flow control-
lers, which supply a gradually smaller volumet-
ric rate as the injection pressure increases. A
method of injecting gas at fixed volumetric rate
has been developed (Dalland and Hanssen,
1989, unpubl, data). The pressure-driven
mode might be said to correspond more closely
to field cases of limited injectivity, where gas
compressors are normally set not to exceed
fracturing pressure (Kuehne et al., 1990). An
experiment at "nearly fixed" rate worth men-
tioning has been conducted (Kovscek, 1993 ),
injecting gas by a massflow controller, but
keeping ziP~Pout nearly constant below 0.5. The
beadpack, surfactant, and microwave appara-
tus described above was used. The displace-
ment failed to produce the pressure buildup
typical of coinjection experiments, but pro-
duced a foam reducing gas flow to the same
order of magnitude as in the pressure-driven
experiment described in this paper. In con-
trast, however, water saturation was strongly
non-uniform in the downstream third of the
pack, Sw increasing from a uniform 0.05 be-
tween the inlet and x / L ~ 0.6 to more than 0.30
at x / L >10.85. This could be an end effect, per-
haps due to the use of atmospheric back pres-
sure and/or low ziP, which is expected to give
large end effects in the form of a stronger foam
near the outlet (Rossen et al., 1991). How-
ever, the outlet liquid accumulation could also
be caused by transport of gas and associated
liquid in the form of bubble trains, lamellae
breaking at the outlet acting as an infinitely
large pore body. Others measuring in situ sat-
urations at steady state and higher pressures
(Persoff et al., 1991 ) have not reported such
end effects. This comparison of the fixed-pres-
sure and the fixed-rate gas injection tests indi-
cate that replenishing surfactant may be more
FOAM AS A GAS-BLOCKING AGENT IN PETROLEUM RESERVOIRS II
critical for producing high flow resistance than
injecting at fixed rate.
Foam response to increased AP at the gas-
blocking state suggests the existence of two or
three different regimes (not necessarily dis-
tinct in all cases). At zero or near-zero gas flow,
no or very few gas flow paths are open. This
occurs below a pressure threshold and shows
at most a weak dependence on AP. At higher
pressure drops, mobility increases with AP, as
could happen if more lamella break-and-re-
form sites were activated, or further continu-
ous-gas channels opened. At very high loads,
gas rate is often seen to increase abruptly, as if
a highly conductive continuous gas channel is
suddenly opened. In this case, most foams will
leave the gas-blocking state as gas rates con-
tinue to increase. Interestingly, the three flow
regimes mentioned were quantified by the
simple network model. This approach (cf., Fig.
20) could be a useful complement to the me-
chanistic approach of foam modeling, which
requires a lamella number density and a trap-
ped fraction, neither of which is easily meas-
urable. Certain aspects of foam in porous me-
dia have been studied by percolation methods
(Rossen and Gauglitz, 1990), although calcu-
lations may become quite complex (Cham-
bers, 1990). The percolation model of Chou
(1990) matches a wide range of data by sev-
eral investigators; but, as formulated it does
not describe the gas-blocking state. The exper-
iments generally agree with those by Chou
Jt
Fig. 20. A bond percolation model of gas flow m a pore
network containing foam lamellae blocking pore throats.
Line intersections represent pore bodies.
153
( 1991 ) for Berea cores under pressure-driven
conditions. The similar behavior in beadpacks
and cores (Hanssen and Dalland, 1991 ), sup-
ported by the same flow mechanisms domi-
nating in beadpacks of narrow and wide pore-
size distribution (Prieditis, 1988), indicate
flow mechanisms to be more or less the same
in homogeneous beadpacks, heterogeneous
beadpacks, and cores, provided they are of
similar permeability and length.
The hysteresis data in this paper suggest that
strong gas-blocking foams may regain their gas-
blocking ability upon reduction of AP as the
result of lamella regeneration. On the other
hand, a foam of less gas-blocking efficiency, or
one that has been subjected to evaporation or
long-time decay by diffusion, when subjected
to high AP, will tend to develop continuous-gas
channels that do not close again at reduced AP.
With regard to field application of gas-block-
ing foams, this points out the need for replen-
ishing some liquid to maintain the efficiency
of gas blockage, either by unfoamed injectant
from within the treated volume, or by re-
peated injection.
Conclusions
Gas blockage as strong and persistent as in
long cores or beadpacks was not achieved in
micromodels. However, zero gas flow was ob-
served in the absence of very large pores for
limited periods at low AP. At zero gas flow,
foam lamellae were stagnant except for peri-
odic oscillations. The response of a foam to an
increased AP at zero gas flow in the micromo-
del resulted in lamella breakage and some re-
generation (not in bubble-train mobiliza-
tion), with the net effect of opening more pore
channels for flow. In foams with moving la-
mellae, generation and termination sites are
strongly coupled.
The generation of gas-blocking foam by
pressure-driven displacement of surfactant so-
lution by gas, in a one-dimensional porous me-
dium sufficiently long to allow the formation
154 J.E. HANSSEN

of a stabilized foam front, can be described an- Nomenclature

alytically. The data required are overall differ- A cross-sectional area
ential pressure and saturation, and front posi- Cg/liq coefficient of solubility (for gas in liquid)
tions observed on a transparent pack. D diffusion coefficient
h film thickness
Predictions compare well with saturations and k absolute permeability
pressure profiles measured in situ. L porous-medium length
Gas-blocking foams can maintain order-of- N number of moles
magnitude gas mobility reductions with as lit- P pressure
3P differential pressure
tle as 0.01 pore volume of the foamed liquid 3P/L overall pressure gradient
phase remaining. This corresponds to high 3P/dx local pressure gradient
capillary pressures that would rapidly destroy Q volumetric flow rate (macroscopic)
q volumetric flow rate (network model element)
any moving lamellae and this agrees with the S saturation (fraction pore volume)
micromodel observations of mainly stagnant v linear (Darcy) velocity
lamellae. The main decay mechanism in this v, volume produced (fraction pore volume)
X position or length (fraction length )
work--for gas-blocking foam with gas that was r correlation coefficient (of order l, 2...: rt, rz... )
not pre-equilibrated with the foamed liquidm power exponent
was evaporation, presumably causing dried- 2 mobility
# viscosity
out, brittle films to break by random pertur-
disjoining pressure
bations. With equilibrated gas, the only re- ff conductance
maining known decay mechanism is interbub-
ble diffusion. Accordingly, using partly Subscripts and superscripts
equilibrated gas produced a more long-lived c capillary
foam. e entry
A model of a simple nonlinear network pre- f foam
g gas
dicts gas flow regimes at the gas-blocking state gf of gas in foam
which are in fair agreement with curve fits for in at porous-medium inlet
two sets of foams in the absence and presence liq liquid
out at porous-medium outlet
of oil. The performance data for each set are
rg residual to gas flood
generalized to one line, with fitting parameters ro residual to oil flood
close to the network model parameters. t threshold (microscopic)
The gas-blocking state of foam in porous T threshold (macroscopic)
H higher threshold (macroscopic)
media does not match the conceptual models w water
established from steady-state foam flow. Gas- * critical
blocking foams persistently, and over a wide
range of conditions, maintain large mobility
reduction factors through the passage of sentially all the foam lamellae being trapped
hundreds of pore volumes of gas, at liquid sat- and most generated during the initial passage
urations much lower than those associated with of the foam front. Gas percolates through this
the critical capillary pressure for the existence network in a number of gas flow channels in-
of stable moving lamellae. They display a non- creasing over time (at a rate depending on the
linear response to an increased flow rate or ziP, system) and with an increased ziP, but remain-
yet they do not appear to contain lamellae ing capable of decreasing again with a decrease
translating over macroscopic distances even on in ziP, by regenerating lameUae in critical sites
a time-averaged basis. The alternate descrip- as long as the pores contain sufficient foama-
tion proposed in this paper, consistent with all ble liquid. Periodic lamella-train movement
experimental data from this study, is one ofes- over distances of a few pores is consistent with
FOAM AS A GAS-BLOCKING AGENT IN PETROLEUM RESERVOIRS II
this scheme, if accompanied by liquid back-
flow in inactive periods as inferred from ob-
servations of coupled sites so that no net trans-
port of liquid results.
Acknowledgments
I am greatly indebted to Prof. C.J. Radke for
his inspiration during my stay at the Univer-
sity of California, Berkeley, and to Dr. Kurt
Rune Jakobsen, now of Norske Shell, for the
network modeling approach. Financial sup-
port from Rogaland University Center, NAVF,
Norske Shell and Statoil is gratefully
acknowledged.
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