Engineering Commons^™

Investigation Of Tracer-Surfactant-Foam Processes In Shallow Subsurface Environmental Remediation: History-Matching And Performance Prediction, Hazem Fleifel

LSU Master's Theses

In-situ subsurface remediation has been widely used as an efficient means of cleaning up non-aqueous phase liquid (NAPL) from contaminated soils and aquifer. The use of tracer, surfactant, and foam are often considered to keep track of the propagation of injected fluids in the medium, dissolve and mobilize contaminants trapped by capillary forces, and overcome the level of heterogeneity and improve displacement and sweep efficiencies.

This study shows an actual remediation process to reduce NAPL within a military base in South Korea, by injecting tracer and surfactant solutions together for a duration of 10 days. The site consists of 5 …

Investigation Of Dimensionality-Dependent Foam Rheological Properties By Using Mechanistic Foam Model, Woochan Lee

LSU Master's Theses

A numerous laboratory and field tests revealed that foam can effectively control gas mobility, improve sweep efficiency, and increase oil production, if correctly designed. It is believed that there is a significant gap between small laboratory-scale experiments and large field-scale tests because of two main reasons: (i) typical laboratory flow tests are conducted in linear systems, while field-scale foam EOR processes are performed in radial (or spherical partly) systems in general; and (ii) through the complicated in-situ lamella creation and coalescence mechanisms and non-Newtonian behavior, foam rheology is thought to depend on geometry and dimensionality and, as a result, it …

Modeling Of Foam Flow In Porous Media For Subsurface Environmental Remediation, Seungjun Lee

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Among numerous foam applications in a wide range of disciplines, foam flow in porous media has been spotlighted for improved/enhanced oil recovery processes in petroleum-bearing geological formations and shallow subsurface in-situ NAPL (non-aqueous phase liquid) environmental remediation in contaminated soils and aquifers. In those applications, foams are known to reduce the mobility of gas phase by increasing effective gas viscosity and improve sweep efficiency by mitigating subsurface heterogeneity. This study investigates how surfactant/foam process works fundamentally for environmental remediation purpose by using MoC (Method of Characteristics) based foam modeling and simulation techniques. It consists of two main parts: Part 1, …

Modeling Foam Delivery Mechanisms In Deep Vadose-Zone Remediation Using Method Of Characteristics (Moc), Alireza Roostapour

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study investigates foam delivery mechanisms in vadose-zone remediation by using Method of Characteristics (MoC). In such applications, dry foams are introduced into a porous medium which is initially at low saturation of water (Sw) containing pollutants such as metals and radionuclides. For vadose-zone remediation processes to be successful, the injected aqueous phase should carry chemicals to react with pollutants and precipitate them for immobilization and stabilization purposes. Typical remediation techniques such as water and surfactant injections are not applicable, because of the concerns about downward migration. As a result, understanding foam flow mechanism in-situ is key to the optimal …

Development Of A Framework For Scaling Surfactant Enhanced Co₂ Flooding From Laboratory Scale To Field Implementation, Gbolahan I. Afonja

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The efficiency of the use of CO2 as a displacement fluid in oil recovery is hampered by the existence of an unfavorable mobility ratio that is caused by the large difference in viscosity between the injected fluid (CO2) and the reservoir fluids. This viscosity contrast results in early CO2 breakthrough, viscous fingering, gas channeling, and consequently, the inability of CO2 to effectively contact much of the reservoir and the oil it contains. Improvement of sweep efficiency and mobility control in CO2 injection require solutions to these problems. The use of surfactants and other chemical means for mobility control has been …

Experimental And Modeling Study Of Foam Flow In Pipes With Two Foam-Flow Regimes, Ali Reza Edrisi

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The use of foams can be found abundantly in many applications in a wide range of industries, including oil and gas industry. Although understanding foam flow behavior is crucial for the optimization of such applications, the complex flow behavior of foams has been a major challenge. Recent experimental studies with surfactant foams presented a new way to characterize foam flow characteristics by using two flow regimes: the low-quality regime showing either plug-flow or segregated-flow pattern, and the high-quality regime showing slug-flow pattern. This study consists of three main components: (1) experimental investigation of foam rheology in pipes; (2) building up …

Characterization Of Foam Flow In Pipes Using Two Flow Regime Concept, Rahul Narayanrao Gajbhiye

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The objective of this study is to investigate the characteristics of foam flow behavior in pipes in a wide range of experimental conditions, including two pipe materials (stainless steel and nylon pipes with about 0.36 - 0.38 inch in inner diameter and 12 ft in length), three surfactant formulations (Cedepal FA-406, Stepanform-1050, and Aquet-944), and three surfactant concentrations (0.1, 0.5, and 5 wt%). The concept of “two foam-flow regimes”, consisting of high-quality regime and low-quality regime, is at the heart of interpreting the experimental data. The experimental results in horizontal pipes showed the presence of two distinct high-quality and low-quality …

Mechanistic Foam Modeling And Simulations: Gas Injection During Surfactant-Alternating-Gas Processes Using Foam-Catastrophe Theory, Ali Afsharpoor

LSU Master's Theses

The use of foam for mobility control is a promising means to improve sweep efficiency in subsurface applications such as improved/enhanced oil recovery and aquifer remediation. Foam can be introduced into geological formations by injecting gas and surfactant solutions simultaneously or alternatively. Alternating gas and surfactant solutions, which is often referred to as surfactant-alternating-gas (SAG) process, is known to effectively create fine-textured strong foams due to fluctuation in capillary pressure. Recent studies show that foam rheology in porous media can be characterized by foam-catastrophe theory which exhibits three foam states (weak-foam, strong-foam, and intermediate states) and two strong-foam regimes (high-quality …

Experimental Study Of A Foam Flow In Horizontal Pipes: Two Flow Regimes And Its Implications, Miodrag Bogdanovic

LSU Master's Theses

Although foam has been widely used in many scientific and engineering applications, the current understanding of foam rheology in pipes is still very limited because of its complex nature. This experimental study, for the first time, investigates the flow rheology of foams in pipes by placing a special emphasis on two distinct foam flow regimes. A wide range of experimental conditions are examined in this study, which include five different surfactant formulations (Cedepal FA-406, Petrostep CG-50, Stepanform 1050, Aquet TD-600, and Ultra-Palmolive), three different surfactant concentrations (0.1, 1, and 5 wt %), two different pipe diameters (0.5 and 1 inch …