Interfacial phenomena in foam flooding process for heavy oil recovery

The ability of pure and commercial foaming agents to generate in situ foams and their effects on air mobility, breakthrough time, fluid recovery and oil displacement efficiency have been studied. These parameters were correlated with the interfacial properties of foaming agents. A striking decrease in the air mobility was observed with increasing temperature as well as pressure which in turn increased the effectiveness of foams to displace additional fluid. It was observed that the chain length compatibility and molecular packing at the air-liquid interface strikingly influenced the interfacial properties of foaming agents, microscopic characteristics and behavior of foams. From the studies on mixed surfactant systems, a minimum in surface tension, a maximum in surface viscosity, a minimum in bubble size and a maximum in heavy oil displacement efficiency in a porous medium were observed when both the components of the foaming system had equal chain length.