1

Rheology of Viscoelastic surfactants and foam in homogeneous porous media

Aarthi Muthuswamy, Clarence Miller, Rafael Verduzco and George Hirasaki

Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Rice University

April 23rd, 201216th Annual Meeting

Consortium for Processes in Porous Media

2

Scope of study

• Polymers are very good mobility control agents

• Polymers tend to degrade- High shear- High salinity- Presence of divalent ions- High temperature.

3

Outline

• Aqueous properties of Rhodia’s viscoelastic surfactants• Rheological measurements for viscoelasticity

-Rhodia A in sea water

-Rhodia B in sea water • Foam –experimental set up• Foam measurements(screening tests)

-Foam measurements for Rhodia A

-Foam measurements for Rhodia B• Remarks• Future work

4

Outline

• Aqueous properties of Rhodia’s viscoelastic surfactants• Rheological measurements for viscoelasticity

-Rhodia A in sea water

-Rhodia B in sea water • Foam –experimental set up• Foam measurements(screening tests)

-Foam measurements for Rhodia A

-Foam measurements for Rhodia B• Remarks• Future work

5

Viscosity for 0.3 wt% Rhodia ‘A’ in aqueous solution

Viscosity enhances due to the presence of divalent calcium and magnesium salts

1 10 100 10001

10

100

Steady shear test for Rhodia A 0.3 wt%

Formation brinesea waterDI water

Shear rate(s-1)

Visc

osity

(cP)

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Appearance of Rhodia ‘B’ 0.3 wt% in DI water after 7 days

Cloudy appearance is noticed.

7

Birefringence in Rhodia ‘B’

Original sample

0.3 wt% in DI water after 7 days

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Viscosity for 0.3 wt% Rhodia ‘B’ in aqueous solution

The viscosity is not affected by the presence of divalent salts

0.1 1 10 100 10001

10

100

1000Steady Shear test for Rhodia B for 0.3 wt%

Formation brinesea waterDI water

Shear rate (s-1)

Visc

osity

(cP)

9

Outline

• Aqueous properties of Rhodia’s viscoelastic surfactants• Rheological measurements for viscoelasticity

-Rhodia A in sea water

-Rhodia B in sea water • Foam –experimental set up• Foam measurements(screening tests)

-Foam measurements for Rhodia A

-Foam measurements for Rhodia B• Remarks• Future work

10

Phase angle measurement

Courtesy :Introduction to Rheology- Texas Tech University

δ

σ

γ

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Phase angle measurement for elastic and viscous substances

Courtesy :Introduction to Rheology- Texas Tech University

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Phase angle measurement for Viscoelasticity

Courtesy :Introduction to Rheology- Texas Tech University

0°< < 90°δ

Rhodia ‘A’ 1wt% in sea water

The elastic modulus dominates after a frequency of 8.5 rad/sRelaxation time is ~0.5 seconds. 13

0.1 1 10 1000.01

0.1

1

10

Dynamic frequency test

G'G"G' fitG" fit

Frequency(rad/s)

G',G

" (P

a)

14

Rhodia ‘A’ 1 wt% in sea water- Phase Angle

0.1 1 10 1000

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Phase Angle for Rhodia A 1 wt% in Sea water

Frequency(rad/s)

Phas

e A

ngle

°

Phase angle measurement lie within 0-90° indicating it is viscoelastic

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Rhodia A 1wt% in sea water- viscosity

0.01 0.1 1 10 100 1000 1000010

100

1000

Steady shear test

ExperimentalCarreau model fit

Shear rate (1/s)

visc

osity

(cP)

The zero shear viscosity reaches ~300cP

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Rhodia B 1 wt% in sea water

Elastic modulus dominates throughout the range of study showing how viscoelastic the fluid isRelaxation time is ~ 3 seconds.

0.1 1 10 1000.01

0.1

1

10

Dynamic Frequency test for 1 wt% Rhodia B

G'G"G' fitG" fit

Frequency(rad/s)

G',G

"(Pa

)

17

Rhodia B 1wt% in sea water- Phase Angle

0.1 1 10 1000

5

10

15

20

25

30

Phase Angle for 1 wt% Rhodia B in SW

Frequency(rad/s)

Phas

e A

ngle

°

Phase angle measurement lie within 0-90° showing viscoelastic behavior

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Rhodia B 1 wt% in sea water- viscosity

Zero shear viscosity predicted by the Carreau model gives a value of ~4000cP

0.00105 0.0105 0.105 1.05 10.5 105 105010

100

1000

10000Steady Shear test

ExperimentalCarreau fit

Shear rate(1/s)

Visc

osity

(cP)

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Outline

• Aqueous properties of Rhodia’s viscoelastic surfactants• Rheological measurements for viscoelasticity

-Rhodia A in sea water

-Rhodia B in sea water • Foam –experimental set up• Foam measurements (screening tests)

-Foam measurements for Rhodia A

-Foam measurements for Rhodia B• Remarks• Future work

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TransducerTransducer

TapsTaps

Inlet

Nitrogen gas

Foam experimental set up

Co-Injection

Sand: US silica 20-40Porosity 0.36Permeability ~80 Darcy

Transducer

Stainless steel sand pack

Syringe Pump

Outlet

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Foam Experiment – Rhodia B

Clean sand US silica 20-40 meshPorosity 0.36Permeability ~ 80 Darcy

0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.20

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

OverallTap 1Tap 2Oil injected

PV liquid injected

Pres

sure

(psi

)

0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.20

50100150200250300350400450

Tap 1Tap 2Oil injected

PV of liquid injected

App

aren

t vis

cosi

ty(c

P)

Tap 16 inch

Tap 26 inch

Overall ~24 inchinletoutlet

1 wt% in sea waterFoam quality ~83%Surfactant flow rate 1.2cc/minGas flow rate 6 sccm

Tap 1 midpoint 6 inch from inletTap 2 midpoint 12 inch from inlet

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Foam Experiment – Rhodia A

Sand from previous experiment was cleaned and used.

0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.50

10

20

30

40

50

OverallTap 1Tap 2

PV of liquid injected

Pres

sure

(psi

)

0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.50

50

100

150

200

250

Tap 1Tap 2

PV liquid injected

App

aren

t vis

cosi

ty (c

P)

Tap 16 inch

Tap 26 inch

Overall ~24 inchinletoutlet

1 wt% in sea waterFoam quality ~83%Surfactant flow rate 1.2cc/minGas flow rate 6 sccm

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Effluent of foam generated by Rhodia B

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Remarks

• Rhodia B is more viscoelastic at 1wt% in sea water compared to Rhodia A at same conditions.

• The zero shear viscosity of Rhodia A ~ 300cP

• The zero shear viscosity of Rhodia B ~ 4000cP

• Rhodia A and B foam strongly in homogeneous porous media

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Future work

• Systematic analysis for the tolerance of these surfactants in the presence of oil.

• Conditions under which these surfactants maintain viscoelasticity (temperature, salinity and divalent ion concentration).

• Foaming ability of Rhodia viscoelastic surfactants in carbonates using CO2

• Foam enhanced oil recovery for high salinity and temperature in cores.

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Acknowledgement

• Maura Puerto

• Jose Lopez Salinas

• Matteo Pasquali

• Processes on Porous media consortium

• Rhodia

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END

28

Backup Slides

29

Fit the complex viscosity from Maxwell model – Rhodia A

0.01 0.1 1 10 100 1000 1000010

100

1000

Viscosity for 1 wt% Rhodia A in sea water

Experimental

Carreau model fit

Shear rate (1/s)

visc

osity

(cP)

30

Fit the complex viscosity from Maxwell model – Rhodia B

0.00105 0.105 10.5 105010

100

1000

10000 Viscosity of rhodia B 1 wt% in Sea water

ExperimentalCarreau fitComplex viscosity

Shear rate(1/s)

Visc

osity

cP

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Ratio of pressure drops for Rhodia A and B

Rhodia B

0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.50

0.51

1.52

2.53

3.5

Tap 1Tap 2

PV of liquid injected

ΔPfo

am/Δ

Psur

f

Rhodia A

0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.20

0.51

1.52

2.53

3.5

Tap 1Tap 2

PV liquid injected

ΔPfo

am/Δ

Psur

f

32

Rhodia B effluent foam in the presence of oil