Foams at elevated pressures – Interfacial rheology

Prof. Philip Jaeger

Currently, the use of aqueous foams in enhanced oil recovery (EOR/EGR) is attracting increasing attention. Aqueous foams combine the advantages of various substances used in oil and gas production within a single system as a gas-in-liquid dispersion. Foams can improve recovery by selectively plugging high-permeability layers in heterogeneous reservoirs, resulting in increased sweep efficiency, and by controlling gas mobility to prevent fingering and segregation. Analysis of foam capacity, stability, and structure at elevated pressure and temperature as a function of time reveals the dominant mechanisms and interactions between the phases involved in this complex system. Foam stability and structure are influenced by interfacial rheology and mutual solubility, as well as several material properties such as density, viscosity, and interfacial tension. For this reason, the current research project includes a variety of detailed and comprehensive investigations on this topic.

M. Szabries, P. Jaeger, M. Amro: Foam Analysis at Elevated Pressures for Enhanced Oil Recovery Applications, *Energy and Fuels* 33 (2019) 5, 3743–3752.