Foam Flow Investigation in 3D-Printed Porous Media: Fingering and Gravitational Effects

Flow in porous media investigations have shown foam injection has a higher sweep efficiency compared to gas injection. However, fingering of highly mobile gas within the foam bank and separation of fluids (gas and surfactant) resulting from gravity segregation can influence the performance of the foam injection project. To the best of our knowledge, this phenomenon has not been investigated experimentally in the literature. In this study, foam injection experiments have been performed in a model oriented in horizontal and perpendicular orientations with respect to gravity using different flow rates. High-resolution imaging tools were utilized to record the displacement process of oil by gas/surfactant/foam. The recorded images enabled us to monitor gas fingering and the foam flow dynamics at the pore scale. The obtained results highlighted the adverse effect of fingering of gas phase into the foam bank and fluid separation by gravity segregation on the performance of the foam projects.