Utilization of egg white protein-carbon dioxide foam in enhanced oil recovery
Loading...
Date
2017
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
Abstract
As one of enhanced oil recovery (EOR) methods is maintaining or increasing the oil recovery from mature oil reservoirs, foam has been used as a mobility control in carbon dioxide foam (CO2-foam) flooding to improve the volumetric sweep efficiency. The foams used in the foam flooding were stabilized by either surfactant or nanoparticles. Both foams have potential weaknesses, such as unstable foam properties under high reservoir temperature, formation salinity, and the presence of crude oil. The nanoparticle foams require high shear rate to generate a stable foam. In this study, egg white protein (EWP) foam was explored as an alternative foaming agent for CO2-foam in EOR application. The properties of EWP foam at static bulk level were measured, and displacement tests in packed porous media were conducted. The foamability, apparent viscosity and, stability of EWP foam was examined. The effect of salinity (1- 5 %wt NaCl), temperature (25-75 oC) and the oil presence (5-35 %vol) on EWP foam stability and foamability were investigated. The results obtained for EWP foam were compared with sodium dodecyl sulfate surfactant (SDS) foam. In the displacement experiments, pore blocking pressure, recovery factor and mobility control were determined. The results showed that EWP foam is about 25 % more stable than SDS foam, and 50 % higher in apparent viscosity. In presence of oil, SDS foam has lost 93% of its stability but EWP foam experienced a loss of 86% only at 15 % oil fraction. At NaCl concentrations of 4.0 wt% and above, SDS foam foamability started to decrease drastically while the foamability of EWP foam remained the same. In porous media experiments, results showed that EWP foam has higher pore blocking pressure, and can be used as an alternative foaming agent for CO2 mobility, fluid diversion, and anti-channeling for EOR application in non-homogeneous reservoirs.
Description
Thesis (PhD. (Petroleum Engineering))
Keywords
Enhanced oil recovery, Eggs—Biotechnology, Carbon dioxide—Transportation