Foam is utilized in enhanced oil recovery and CO₂ sequestration. Surfactant-alternating-gas (SAG) is a preferred approach for placing foam into reservoirs, due to it enhances gas injection and minimizes corrosion in facilities. Our previous studies with similar permeability cores show that during SAG injection, several banks occupy the area near the well where fluid exhibits distinct behaviour. However, underground reservoirs are heterogeneous, often layered. It is crucial to understand the effect of permeability on fluid behaviour and injectivity in a SAG process. In this work, coreflood experiments are conducted in cores with permeabilities ranging from 16 to 2300 mD. We observe the same sequence of banks in cores with different permeabilities. However, the speed at which banks propagate and their overall mobility can vary depending on permeability. At higher permeabilities, the gas-dissolution bank and the forced-imbibition bank progress more rapidly during liquid injection. The total mobilities of both banks decrease with permeability. By utilizing a bank-propagation model, we scale up our experimental findings and compare them to results obtained using the Peaceman equation. Our findings reveal that the liquid injectivity in a SAG foam process is misestimated by conventional simulators based on the Peaceman equation. The lower the formation permeability, the greater the error.

Surfactant-alternating-gas (SAG) is a preferred method of foam injection, which is a promising means of enhanced oil recovery. Liquid injectivity in a SAG process is commonly problematic. Our previous studies suggest that the liquid injectivity can be better than expected due to the existence of a collapsed-foam region formed during the gas-injection period ahead of the liquid-injection period. A single superficial velocity was used in those studies to examine the flow behavior during gas- and liquid-injection periods, separately. However, in radial flow from an injection well, superficial velocity decreases with distance from the injection well. Understanding the effect of superficial velocity on gas and liquid injectivities is important, but remains unexplored. In this study, we first examine gas injection at different superficial velocities following foam injection. We then study the effect of liquid superficial velocity on the liquid injectivity following a similar volume of gas injection. Our results show that during a prolonged period of gas injection following foam, the propagation velocity and the total mobility of the collapsed-foam bank are not significantly affected by the gas superficial velocity. During liquid injection after a period of gas injection, the dimensionless propagation velocities and the total mobilities of the forced-imbibition bank and the gas-dissolution bank follow a power-law dependence on the liquid superficial velocity. Liquid fingering through the weakened-foam region shows strongly shear-thinning behavior. It is also observed from X-ray computer-tomography experiments that the liquid fingers are wider if the liquid superficial velocity is greater. The impact of the shear-thinning behavior on the estimation of liquid injectivity in a field application is the subject of a companion paper.

Surfactant-alternating-gas (SAG) is a favored method of foam injection, which has been proved as an efficient way for enhancing oil recovery. However, foam flow is extremely complicated, and there are still unsolved problems for foam application. One is liquid injectivity. Our previous studies suggest that the injectivity in a SAG process is determined by propagation of several banks near the injection well that are not represented by current foam models. Uniform bank properties were assumed. However, in a companion paper, our experimental results show that the dimensionless propagation velocity and the total mobility of banks during the liquid-injection period depends on superficial velocity. Shearing-thinning behavior is observed. In radial flow, the superficial velocity varies with distance from the well. In this study, we scale-up the experimental results using a radial bank-propagation model. The comparison of liquid injectivity estimated from conventional foam simulators (Peaceman equation) and the bank-propagation model show that the conventional foam models cannot represent the effect of the superficial-velocity-dependent fluid properties during liquid injection in a SAG process. The shear-thinning behavior can lead to much better liquid injectivity than expected, which should be accounted for in a field application of a SAG foam process.