Characterization of trapped gas saturation and heterogeneity in core samples using miscible-displacement experiments

Trapped gas saturation and permeability heterogeneity were evaluated in Berea cores at reservoir conditions, using standard miscible displacement experiments, with and without surfactants. Pressure and production history were influenced by core heterogeneity and foam lamellae formation when aqueous surfactant was present in the core. A simple dispersion model and a three-coefficient dispersion-capacitance model (Coates-Smith) were fit to the experimental data. The dispersion-capacitance model successfully matched the experiments in which foam lamella formed, while the simple dispersion model was used only for determining initial core flow heterogeneity. The objective of the dispersion-capacitance model was to estimate trapped gas saturations; however longitudinal dispersion and mass transfer also were examined. The results show that the dispersion-capacitance model accurately fits trapped gas saturation controlled by rock heterogeneities and foam lamellae for lamella generating mechanisms that allow a continuous gas phase (leave-behind lamellae). The practical applications resulting from this study can aid in core sample selection and scaling short laboratory corefloods to field dimensions for applications to foam stimulation and underground storage of natural gas