Foams at elevated pressures – Interfacial rheology

Prof. Dr. Philip Jaeger

Currently, the application of aqueous foams in enhanced oil recovery (EOR/EGR) is gaining increasing attention. Aqueous foams combine advantages of different substances used in oil and gas production within a single system as a gas-in-liquid dispersion. Foams are able to improve the recovery by selectively plugging high-permeability layers in heterogeneous reservoirs resulting in increased sweep efficiency and by control of gas mobility to avoid fingering and segregation. Analysis of foam capacity, stability and structure at elevated pressure and temperature as a function of time reveals the dominating mechanisms and interactions between the participating phases of this complex system. Foam stability and structure is influenced by interfacial rheology and mutual solubility as well as several material properties such as density, viscosity and interfacial tension. For this reason, the current research project includes a variety of detailed and comprehensive investigations regarding the topic.

M. Szabries, P. Jaeger, M. Amro: Foam Analysis at Elevated Pressures for Enhanced Oil Recovery Applications, Energy and Fuels Energy Fuels 33 (2019) 5, 3743-3752.