An Experimental Investigation of Surfactant-Stabilized CO 2 Foam Flooding in Carbonate Cores in Reservoir Conditions

Carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) injection for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) has attracted great attention due to its potential to increase ultimate recovery from mature oil reservoirs. Despite the reported efficiency of CO 2 in enhancing oil recovery, the high mobility of CO 2 in porous media is one of the major issues faced during CO 2 EOR projects. Foam injection is a proven approach to overcome CO 2 mobility problems such as early gas breakthrough and low sweep efficiency. In this experimental study, we investigated the foam performance of a commercial anionic surfactant, alpha olefin sulfonate (AOS), in carbonate core samples for gas mobility control and oil recovery. Bulk foam screening tests demonstrated that varying surfactant concentrations above a threshold value had an insignificant effect on foam volume and half-life. Moreover, foam stability and capacity decreased with increasing temperature, while variations in salinity over the tested range had a negligible influence on foam properties. The pressure drop across a brine-saturated core sample increased with an increasing concentration of surfactant in the injected brine during foam flooding experiments. Co-injection of CO 2 and AOS solution at an optimum concentration and gas fractional flow enhanced oil recovery by 6–10% of the original oil in place (OOIP).