Investigation of foam generation, propagation and rheology in fractures

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Abstract

Naturally fractured reservoirs (NFRs) are found in many countries around the globe, in almost every lithology. These reservoirs can be carbonates, sandstones, or shale, in the case of unconventional or basement reservoirs. NFRs have been explored and exploited globally for groundwater, geothermal energy, hydrocarbon production, coalbedmethane production, and nuclear-waste sequestration. They have unique characteristics in their flow behavior. Short-circuiting is encountered in these reservoirs during fluid-displacement processes. This unfavourable behavior leads to considerable unrecovered hydrocarbons. Injection of gas into these reservoirs to enhance oil recoverywithout mobility control can greatly reduce the efficiency of the enhanced oil recovery process. Foam greatly reduces the mobility of gas in non-fractured porous media and improves sweep efficiency. However, the knowledge of foam in fractured porous media is far less complete [Chapter 1].

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