Effect of SDS and CTAB on Stability of CO2 and Air Foam in Enhanced Oil Recovery

Gas injection into a reservoir is one of the most widely used methods for oil recovery. However, due to the low viscosity of the gas, its adverse mobility causes the oil not to move in the reservoir. Foam reduces the gas injection problems by increasing its viscosity. Because of the injection of surfactant, the necessary energy is reduced and the foam is formed. But some factors such as the absorption of surfactant on the rock reservoir and the decomposition of the surfactant under severe storage conditions limit its efficiency. In this study, the effect of CTAB and SDS surfactants on the stabilization of Air and CO2 foam, as well as the optimum amount of the most stable foam for injection into the reservoir, is discussed. Since the surfactant-based foam is not very efficient for reservoir conditions, mineral salts can be used to help maintain foam stability. The results showed that the optimum amount of both surfactants can be the most stable, although the anionic surfactants are more capable of foam stability