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Nanoparticle-Surfactant-Stabilized Nitrogen Foam Using GLDA at High Temperature
Abstract
This research aims to develop foam chelates to facilitate their distribution over target zones to improve mobility control. The use of a conventional acid cannot produce acceptable stimulation results because of major drawbacks such as high reaction rate and corrosion to well tubulars. However, chelating agents such as glutamic acid N, N, - diacetic acid (GLDA) which is also biodegradable, can overcome the drawbacks of such conventional acids.
To attain the objective, many surfactants were screened and various experiments at pressures and temperatures up to 250◦F and 1200 psi were conducted. Experiments using a high-pressure view chamber (HPVC) were performed to generate foam in bulk by injecting nitrogen (N2) gas into a GLDA solution containing a commercial viscoelastic surfactant at a temperature of 212◦F and a pressure of 500 psi. Most treatments require foam effectiveness at elevated temperatures hence, additives such as co-surfactant and nanoparticles were used to improve the stability of the foam. During each experiment, the half-life for the degradation of the foam solution was monitored to compare stability across experimental runs. An optimal surfactant concentration of 1.2 vol% at 212◦F was obtained. The addition of co-surfactant increased the stability by eight times. The addition of 140 nm silica nanoparticles at a concentration of 0.5 wt% further improved stability by an additional 50%. The combined effect of nanoparticles and co-surfactant increased stability by 13 times. The blockage capacity of attained optimal sample solutions was evaluated with core-flood experiments on high permeability carbonate cores at high temperature and high pressure of 250◦F and 1200 psi, respectively. Foam bubble size and texture were also studied at the microscopic level to quantify degradation with time at ambient conditions.
This research helps to understand the results of foam acidizing using surfactant and chelate and at the same time promote foaming using GLDA. There are several research experiments on im-proving stability using nanoparticle-stabilized foam. However, very few attempts have been made to use chelating agents such as GLDA for high-temperature reservoirs. Experiments revealed a new foam solution using GLDA at HP/HT conditions with stability far better than other surfactants.
Citation
Reddy, Harsha (2023). Nanoparticle-Surfactant-Stabilized Nitrogen Foam Using GLDA at High Temperature. Doctoral dissertation, Texas A&M University. Available electronically from https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /198976.