SPE 130767

Application of Nitrogen Foam for Profile Modification in a Heterogeneous

Multi-layer Sandstone Oilfield
Liu He, SPE，State Key Laboratory of Enhanced Oil Recovery, Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration &
Development (RIPED), Petrochina; Ye Peng, Northeast Petroleum University; and Li Wei, Song Li, and Zhong Yan,
PetroChina Daqing Oilfield Company Limited

Copyright 2010, Society of Petroleum Engineers

This paper was prepared for presentation at the SPE Asia Pacific Oil & Gas Conference and Exhibition held in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 18–20 October 2010.

This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE program committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents of the paper have not been
reviewed by the Society of Petroleum Engineers and are subject to correction by the author(s). The material does not necessarily reflect any position of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, its
officers, or members. Electronic reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this paper without the written consent of the Society of Petroleum Engineers is prohibited. Permission to
reproduce in print is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words; illustrations may not be copied. The abstract must contain conspicuous acknowledgment of SPE copyright.

Abstract
Daqing Oilfield is a heterogeneous multi-layer sandstone oilfield. The main pay zone of the oilfield has entered into
high water-cut (over 90%) development stage after more than 30 years of water injection. According to intrusive
mercury tests on 104 pieces of sealed coring samples, permeability increased by 32% after water flooding; the
pore volume increased by 5.9%. This may indicate a change in pore structure affected by long-term water injection.
In thick layers, water bypasses oil and flooding efficiency decreases.
Fine geology research results show that in main pay zones and thick layers of non-main pay zones, there are
certain amounts of remaining oil. Vertically, the remained oil gathers on the top of positive rhythm thick formations.
For this portion of the remaining oil, it is difficult to develop by conventional stimulation measures. Therefore, study
on nitrogen foam injection technology was carried out to control fingering. Core experiments indicated that nitrogen
foam injection is suitable for enhancing oil recovery rate of heterogeneous reservoirs. Field pilot gave positive
results.
This paper briefly introduces profile modification mechanism of nitrogen foam to control fingering and enhancing oil
recovery rate. Static tests of foam adaptability to temperature, salinity, and oil saturation are evaluated in the paper.
Nitrogen foam can select automatically the high permeability zone and high water cut layer and realize fluid
diversion after foam plugging, and then the gas component may provide gravitational differentiation when the foam
bubbles break off, so as to increase the sweep volume and enhance the flooding efficiency[1][2] [3] [4] [5]. At present,
Sabei Oilfield in Daqing has entered into the extra high water-cut development with its total water-cut up to 96%.
Vertically, the water out behavior in layers differs greatly and massive water injected advances suddenly along high
permeability positions, resulting in serious channeling. Therefore, in view of the geologic characteristics and fluid
properties, three sets of foam system are developed, and the field pilots for nitrogen foam injection technology to
control water fingering are conducted successively in Xing 7-1-33 and Bei 2-Ding 2-59 well cluster in Sabei Oilfield.
Experimental Equipment and Samples
HQY-3 multifunction physical simulator is used and the oil, gas and water are separated automatically and
measured by computer. The indexes are as follows: flowrate - (0.01~30)mL/min; displacement pressure - 35MPa;
working temperature - 150℃.
For the core, the specification is 30cm×4.5cm×4.5cm, the permeability is 0.9-1.0μm2 and the porosity is 27%. For
the crude oil from No.3 Oil Production Plant, the viscosity is 8.9mPa.s. The industrial foaming agent is used. The
degree of hydrolysis is 25% about 16-19 million molecular weight of polymers.
Steps of Physical Simulation
(1)Vacuate the core continuously for 5h, and then saturate it with water; calculate the pore volume and porosity of
the core based on the water intake;
(2) Measure the water permeability at water-cut of 100%;
(3) Prepare the simulated oil to saturate the core and calculate the oil saturation;
2 SPE 130767

(4) Place the core in the oven, set the experimental temperature, and conduct water flooding at 2mL/min, until the
water cut reaches 98%; then, carry out 0.57PV polymer flooding and nitrogen foam flooding respectively, and
conduct water flooding again until the water cut reaches 98%. At the outlet, oil production, water production and
pressure difference are measured at different times, and residual oil saturation and variations of recovery rate and
fluid discharge rate are calculated.
Study of Foam System
According to the geologic characteristics and fluid properties in Sabei Oilfield, three sets of foam system are
developed, and the evaluation experiments are made for such influential factors as temperature and salinity. The
results show that the foam system is quite adaptable to the formations in the test area. In particular, given the
concentrations of foaming agent and foaming stabilizer at 0.3% and 700mg/L respectively, the half foam life period
is 51.7h and the interfacial tension is 0.30mN/m.
Table 1-1 Overall Properties of Foam
Concentration Sewage Preparation
Concentration Surface Interfacial
of Foaming Foam Half Life
Name of Foaming Tension Tension
Stabilizer Volume period
Agent (%) (mN/m) (mN/m)
(mg/L) (mL) (h)
SW-1 0.3 30 480 28.6 25.3 0.27
SW-2 0.3 700 475 51.7 25.6 0.30
SW-3 0.5 1500 475 159 25.7 0.32

(I) Properties and influential factors of foam system

1. Concentrations of foaming agent and foaming stabilizer vs. foam volume and half foam life period
The test shows (Fig. 1-1-1 and 1-1-2) that, as the concentration of foaming agent increases, the foam volume
doesn’t change greatly, and the half foam life period extends as the concentration of foaming agent increases, but
it tends towards stability after such concentration approaches 0.3%; as the concentration of foaming stabilizer
increases, the foam volume declines, but over 450mL generally, and the half foam life period extends as the
concentration of foaming stabilizer increases, but it increases slowly after such concentration approaches 0.1%.

Fig. 1-1-1 Effects of the concentration Fig. 1-1-2 Effects of the concentration
of foaming agent on foam properties of foaming stabilizer on foam properties

2. Effects of shear time on foam system

SPE 130767 3

Fig. 1-1-3 Effects of shear time on foam properties

The foaming stabilizer solution is sheared on a super mixer at different times and then combined with the foam
system, to measure the foam volume and the half foam life period.
The test shows (Fig. 1-1-3) that the shear time has slight effects on the foam volume, but not on the half foam life
period.
3. Effects of crude oil saturation and residual oil saturation on foam stability
To examine the effects of crude oil on foam properties, different volumes of crude oil are added to the foam
solution to measure the foam volume and the half foam life period. Moreover, to identify the effects of residual oil
saturation on foam plugging, the single core test is conducted at various residual oil saturation to measure its
resistance factor (the ratio of pressure difference for foam flooding vs. pressure difference for water/gas flooding
under the same conditions), as shown in Fig. 1-1-4 and Fig. 1-1-5. Both tests show that, when the crude oil and
residual oil saturations reach 20%, foam volume, half foam life period and resistance factor decline visibly, and as
the growth of oil saturation, the molecules of surfactant in the foam exchange with the polar molecules in oil more
quickly, resulting in the sharp reduction of liquid film salability of the foam. The feature is beneficial for selective
plugging of high water-cut zones. However, for a reservoir with high residual oil saturation, the foam survives only
for a short duration of validity or no foam occurs. No permanent damages may generate [6][7][8][9][10][11 [12].

Fig. 1-1-4 Effects of crude oil saturation Fig. 1-1-5 Effects of residual oil
on foam properties saturation on foam properties

4. Effects of temperature and salinity on foam volume and half foam life period
The foam volume and half foam life period of foam system are measured at different temperatures and salinities,
as shown in Fig. 1-1-6 and Fig. 1-1-7. The test shows that the temperature and salinity don’t have much effects on
the foam volume of foam system, and when the temperature is higher than 50℃, the half foam life period reduces
to 1/3 of that at room temperature. It indicates that the foam system is suitable for the oil reservoir with temperature
of 50℃ and salinity less than 10000mg/L.
4 SPE 130767

Fig. 1-1-6 Effects of temperature on Fig. 1-1-7 Effects of salinity on foam

foam system properties
5. Gas/liquid ratio and injection rate vs. resistance factor
The test shows (Fig. 1-1-8 and Fig. 1-1-9) that, given the gas/liquid ratio of 1:1~2:1, the resistance factor reaches
350, and based on lab observation, the foams generated at range of 1:1~2:1 are exquisite and stable, with good
viscoelasticity of liquid film, which may realize effective plugging; as the growing of injection rate, the resistance
factor of foam system reaches about 300 and tends to be stable, and higher the injection rate is, more exquisite
and more stable the foams are.

Fig. 1-1-8 Gas/liquid ratio vs. Fig. 1-1-7 Injection rate vs. Resistance
Resistance factor factor

Pilot of Well Cluster

The well cluster tested is located in the east of Area Bei-3 in Sabei Oilfield. It consists of 2 central production wells,
3 injection wells and 7 corner production wells in peripheral zone, with the oil layers buried at about 900~1200m.
Target intervals include Pu II Fm. and Gao-I Fm., which feature a permeability ranging in 0.14~0.9μm2 and strong
heterogeneity vertically. The well cluster is a typical inefficient injection & circulation cluster in high permeability
zones, for its 9 production wells that produce 760m3/d fluid and 40.9t/d oil, with average water cut of 94.6%.
CMG-STARS software used to check the field pilot program may flexibly define the components in relation to foam
on the basis of original components (oil, gas and dissolved gas) for black oil model. In this model, four phases (oil,
gas, water and adsorbed solid) and six components (oil, dissolved gas, water, surfactant (foaming agent), polymer
(foaming stabilizer) and nitrogen) are defined[13][14][15][16]. The total design injection of nitrogen is 84×104Nm3, the
estimated effective production period is 2 years and additional oil is 3960t accumulatively.
Analysis of Stimulation Effects
From October 2005 to January 2006, field test was made in Bei 2-Ding 2-59 well cluster. The one round injection
mode was used at individual layer for single well. The maximum injection time for single well was 31 days, during
which for these 3 wells, 4477m3 foaming agent and 100.7×104Nm3 nitrogen were injected, accumulated gas/liquid
ratio was 1.12:1, total volume of gas and liquid injected was 9491.24m3, and the profile modification radius was
20m, approximately corresponding to 0.0065PV of pore volume for the well cluster tested.
1. Injection pressure rises steadily during operation
SPE 130767 5

During injection of nitrogen foam, the injection pressure of each of three wells rises in a varying range of 1.5~3MPa,
particularly for Well Bei 2-2-160, the injection pressure increases from 14.2MPa to 15.8MPa, or by 1.6MPa (Fig. 4-
1). The injection pressure increases fast at initial injection of nitrogen foam and climbs stably in subsequent stages.
It is considered through analysis that as the increase of injection rate, the foam has an effect of superimposition in
deep layers, thus effectively plugging the high permeability zones/belts and improving the accessibility to medium –
low permeability layers, so that the injection pressure rises stably.

Fig. 4-1 Parametric curve of nitrogen foam injection for Well Bei 2-2-160

2. Threshold pressure rises after operation, creating new producing zones

After operation, the threshold pressure of the well cluster rises by 0.7MPa averagely, especially Well Bei 2-2-160,
for which the threshold pressure before stimulation increases from 8.7MPa to 9.3MPa, or by 0.6MPa (Fig. 4-2).

Fig. 4-2 Index curve for Well Bei 2-2-160 before and after nitrogen profile modification

3. Nitrogen foam has extremely high expandability

During the field single-well test for Well Xing 7-1-33 previously, total nitrogen injected to the underground
formations was 42.1865×104m3, and the foam solution was 3555m3. Meanwhile, in the foam injection for profile
modification, the water injection was reduced by 5.5×104m3.
6 SPE 130767

After the test, a pressure build up test is conducted (Fig. 4-3). The skin factor of the formation tested increases
from -2.46 to 0.94, and the flowing pressure in the middle of the oil layers increases from 13.31MPa to 14.07MPa.
It indicates that the nitrogen foam can promote the reservoir pressure greatly once entering into the formation.
4. Water absorbing capacity of high channeling layers reduces sharply and absorption proportion is more
reasonable
Number of water absorbing layers in Pu-II Fm. and Gao-I Fm. increases from 3~4 before profile modification to 4~6
after the stimulation, and absorbing thickness grows from 9~10m to around 13m. Besides, the water absorbing
capacity of un-produced and less-produced intervals is enhanced, the water absorption in high absorptive intervals
originally declines, and the interlayer contradiction is released.
The isotopic test for Well Bei 2-1-076 before and after profile modification (Fig. 4-4) shows that in Pu-II 6-9
intervals, the relative water absorption at Pu-II 6-9 (1) (with high permeability up to 0.80μm2) reduces from 56.89%
before profile modification to 23.47%, down 33.42%, while the relative water absorption at Pu-II 6-9 (2) (with low
permeability of 0.36μm2) increases from 27.08% before profile modification to 32.92%, up 5.84%; the relative water
absorption at Gao I2-8 (2) increases from 4.17% before profile modification to 31.11% or by 26.94%, and the
relative water absorption at Gao I2-8(3) (with permeability less than 0.1μm2) climbs to 12.5%.

Fig. 4-3 Comparison of injectivity profile for Well Bei 2-1-076

5. Six of nine 9 connected production wells show visible effects of enhanced oil recovery and water
reduction
For the six wells showing effects, before stimulation, the daily production is 561t fluid and 34.5t oil, and the average
water cut of the cluster is 93.9%; after stimulation, at the peak of response period, the daily fluid production is 520t,
the daily oil production is 50.9t, and the average water cut for the cluster is 90.2%; comparing with that before
profile modification, 41t/d fluid is reduced, 16.4t/d oil is increased, and the water cut is declined by 3.7%, for the
whole cluster, 3486t oil is increased accumulatively. Effective production time is 6 months.
The oil enhancement and water reduction is most outstanding in Well Bei 2-Ding 2-60 (the central oil well), as
shown in Fig. 4-5. At the peak of response period, the daily oil production is 5.8t and total water cut is 88%,
representing an increase of 3.8t/d oil and a decrease of 6.9% water cut comparing with that before modification.
The good results of profile modification are primarily due to favorable development of oil layers in the well, with
perforated sandstone up to 10.8m in target layer, including 8.4m effective thickness, and also due to the location in
main channel, with good connectivity to three wells. Moreover, these three wells are operated alternatively, leading
to long operation cycle, when the pressure rises gradually, thus ensure the pressure and time necessary for the
gas upward migration.
According to the stimulation results of the well, it is found that the nitrogen foam may give quickly, as evidenced by
primary effects during the injection of nitrogen foam. It may be considered, through analysis, that during injection of
the nitrogen foam, the nitrogen produces high expansion energy in oil layers, and high pressure difference exists
between oil well and water well, leading to fast transmission of pressure.
SPE 130767 7

Fig. 4-4 Production data of Well Bei 2-Ding 60 (the central well)

Three production wells at the edge of the cluster, i.e. Bei 2-Ding 2-62, Bei 2-Ding 3-58 and Bei 2-Ding 3-60, give
no response, since they are less connected.
In particular, for Well Bei 2-Ding 3-60, it is less effective because the target layer is less developed, with only one
sublayer - GI8 containing sandstones thicker than 1.7m, including effective thickness of 0.4m, so it is not favorable
for high water flooding.
For Well Bei 2-Ding 2-62, which contains two sublayers – Gao I6+7 and Gao I8, only Gao I8 is connected with Well
Bei 2-2-160 (a water well) and located, along with Well Bei 2-2-160, in main channel. Serious plane contradiction
results in inefficient Well Bei 2-Ding 2-62.
For Well Bei 2-Ding 3-58, only Pu II8+9a (2.8m sandstones, 2.2m effective zone) is connected with Well Bei 2-2-
158 (a water well), but separated by small faults, so no response can be made.
Conclusions
1. Three sets of foam system are defined, i.e. SW-1: 0.3% foaming agent + 30 mg/L foaming stabilizer; SW-2:
0.3% foaming agent + 700 mg/L foaming stabilizer; SW-3: 0.5% foaming agent + 1500 mg/L foaming stabilizer.
2. For these foam systems, the half foam life period is 28.6h, 51.7h and 159h respectively, and the interfacial
tension is 0.27mN/m, 0.30mN/m and 0.32mN/m respectively; it is suitable for the oil reservoir with temperature of
50℃ and salinity less than 10000mg/L; it can be used to plug the high permeability reservoir with low residual oil
saturation, while in the reservoir with high residual oil saturation, the foam will break into foaming agent solution for
the purpose of oil displacement; the foams generated at range of 1:1~2:1 are exquisite and stable, which may
realize effective plugging.
3. The foam system can be used for both selective plugging and oil displacement. After water flooding, the foam
flooding may be used to enhance the recovery rate by 30.92%, while the polymer flooding by 17.92%.
4. Injection of nitrogen foam for profile modification can increase the reservoir pressure significantly and boost the
pressure difference between oil well and water well. The system is adaptable to positive rhythm well sections and
also effective for profile modification in composite rhythm oil layers.
5. Injection of nitrogen foam for profile modification can enable the oil well to respond quickly. For example, at best
performance of the central oil well – Bei 2-Ding 2-60, the daily oil production was 5.8t, and the total water cut was
88%, which represent increase of 3.8t/d and decrease of 6.9% respectively in contrast to that before modification.
6. Injection of nitrogen foam for profile modification is especially suitable for the well cluster with good connectivity
between oil well and water well and serious water channeling, which can relax the interlayer contradiction
effectively.
7. Currently, the half life period of nitrogen foam is only dozens of hours and the injection radius is small (20m),
resulting in limited oil enhancement and water reduction. Therefore, it is our major orientation in next study to
further improve the stability of the formula and prolong the half life period.

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