title: Laboratory investigation of the factors impact on bubble size, pore blocking and enhanced oil recovery with aqueous Colloidal Gas Aphron.
abstract: Colloidal Gas Aphron as a mobility control in enhanced oil recovery is becoming attractive; it is also designed to block porous media with micro-bubbles. In this paper, the effects of surfactant concentration, polymer concentration, temperature and salinity on the bubble size of the Colloidal Gas Aphron were studied. Effects of injection rates, Colloidal Gas Aphron fluid composition, heterogeneity of reservoir on the resistance to the flow of Colloidal Gas Aphron fluid through porous media were investigated. Effects of Colloidal Gas Aphron fluid composition and temperature on residual oil recovery were also studied. The results showed that bubble growth rate decreased with increasing surfactant concentration, polymer concentration, and decreasing temperature, while it decreased and then increased slightly with increasing salinity. The obvious increase of injection pressure was observed as more Colloidal Gas Aphron fluid was injected, indicating that Colloidal Gas Aphron could block the pore media effectively. The effectiveness of the best blend obtained through homogeneous sandpack flood tests was modestly improved in the heterogeneous sandpack. The tertiary oil recovery increased 26.8 % by Colloidal Gas Aphron fluid as compared to 20.3 % by XG solution when chemical solution of 1 PV was injected into the sandpack. The maximum injected pressure of Colloidal Gas Aphron fluid was about three times that of the XG solution. As the temperature increased, the Colloidal Gas Aphron fluid became less stable; the maximum injection pressure and tertiary oil recovery of Colloidal Gas Aphron fluid decreased.
authors.affiliation: School of Petroleum Engineering, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Shenglong
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: School of Petroleum Engineering, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yefei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: School of Petroleum Engineering, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Zhongpeng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: School of Petroleum Engineering, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Qingguo
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: School of Petroleum Engineering, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Zenghao
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhao
keywords: Block; Bubble growth rate; Colloidal Gas Aphron; Enhanced oil recovery