ABSTRACT
This report entails the study of the effect of the foaming agents in the physio-chemical
properties of the oil system, this report investigate if the addition of such foaming agents can
improve production and also determines the properties of the crude oil and the foaming
agents used. The properties investigated are Density, Specific Gravity, API gravity, viscosity,
Surface Tension and Pour point before and after the addition of the foaming agents. The
effects of foaming agents in crude oil: it increases density, viscosity and specific gravity of
crude oil and decreases API gravity, surface tension, pour and cloud point of crude oil.
Statistical and graphical analysis were used to interpret the results of the experiments
carried out. The results show that foaming agents increases oil density, oil viscosity, oil
specific gravity and decreases oil API gravity, oil surface tension, oil cloud point and pour
point.
The study would help petroleum engineers to understand the positive impact of foams
in oil; especially during enhanced oil recovery (EOR).With such understanding and putting it
into practical, production will be maximized.
v
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CERTIFICTION ………………………………………………………………………………………………………….i
DEDICATION……………………………………………………………………………………………………………ii
ACKNOWLEDGMENT……………………………………………………………………………………………. iii
ABSTRACT………………………………………………………………………………………………………………iv
LIST OF TABLES…………………………………………………………………………………………………….vii
LIST OF FIGURES ………………………………………………………………………………………………… viii
CHAPTER ONE…………………………………………………………………………………………………………1
INTRODUCTION ………………………………………………………………………………………………………1
1.1 Crude Oil System …………………………………………………………………………………………..1
1.2 Properties of crude oil system………………………………………………………………………….2
1.3 Characterization of Crude Oil ………………………………………………………………………….5
1.4 Foaming Agents …………………………………………………………………………………………….7
1.5 Factors Contributing to Crude Oil Foam Formation……………………………………………8
1.6 Properties of foam………………………………………………………………………………………..10
1.7 Statement of Problem……………………………………………………………………………………14
1.8 Objective of the work……………………………………………………………………………………14
1.9 Scope/Justification of the work………………………………………………………………………14
CHAPTER TWO……………………………………………………………………………………………………15
2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW………………………………………………………………………………15
2.1 Work on Effect of Wettability of the Rock on Oil-Foam Interactions………………….17
CHAPTER THREE …………………………………………………………………………………………………..19
3.0: METHODOLOGY ………………………………………………………………………………………….19
3.1 Materials and Equipment Used ……………………………………………………………………..19
3.2: Determination of the effect of Sodium Laureth Sulphate (Omo) and Ammonium
Dodecysulate (Vinoz Shampoo) on the Density of Crude Oil………………………………………20
3.3 Determination of the effect of Sodium Laureth Sulphate (Omo) and Ammonium
Dodecysulate (Vinoz Shampoo) on the Specific Gravity of Crude Oil. …………………………22
3.4 Determination of the effect of Sodium Laureth Sulphate (Omo) and Ammonium
Dodecysulate (Vinoz Shampoo) on the Viscosity of Crude Oil. …………………………………..24
3.5 Determination of the effect of Sodium Laureth Sulphate (Omo) and Ammonium
Dodecysulate (Vinoz Shampoo) on the Surface Tension of Crude Oil ………………………….26
3.6 Determination of the effect of Sodium Laureth Sulphate (Omo) and Ammonium
Dodecysulate (Vinoz Shampoo) on Cloud Point and Pour Point of Crude Oil. ………………29
CHAPTER FOUR……………………………………………………………………………………………………..32
4.0 RESULT AND DISCUSSION ………………………………………………………………………….32
vi
4.1 Determination of the effect of Sodium Laureth Sulphate (Omo) and Ammonium
Dodecysulate (Vinoz Shampoo) on the Density of Crude Oil………………………………………32
4.2 Determination of the effect of Sodium Laureth Sulphate (Omo) and Ammonium
Dodecysulate (Vinoz Shampoo) on the Specific Gravity of Crude Oil. …………………………35
4.3 Determination of the effect of Sodium Laureth Sulphate (Omo) and Ammonium
Dodecysulate (Vinoz Shampoo) on the API Gravity Of Crude Oil……………………………….38
4.4 Determination of the effect of Sodium Laureth Sulphate (Omo) and Ammonium
Dodecysulate (Vinoz Shampoo) on the Apparent and Plastic Viscosity of Crude Oil……..41
4.5 Determination of the effect of Sodium Laureth Sulphate (omo) and Ammonium
Dodecysulate (Vinoz Shampoo) on the Surface Tension Of Crude Oil. ………………………..47
4.6 Determination of the effect of Sodium Laureth Sulphate (Omo) and Ammonium
Dodecysulate (Vinoz Shampoo) on the Surface Tension Of Crude Oil. ………………………..50
CHAPTER 5 …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….58
5.0 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION……………………………………………………58
5.1 CONCLUSION ……………………………………………………………………………………………58
RECOMMENDATION ………………………………………………………………………………………….58
NOMENCLATURE ………………………………………………………………………………………………….63
vii
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1 Determination of the effect of Sodium Laureth Sulphate (Omo) and Ammonium
Dodecysulate (Vinoz Shampoo) on the Density of Crude Oil
32
Table 2 Volume of Ammonium Dodecysulate (vinoz shampoo) and the corresponding
Density
34
Table 3 Volume of Sodium Laureth Sulphate (omo) and the corresponding Specific
Gravity
35
Table 4 Mass of Ammonium Dodecysulate (vinoz shampoo) and the corresponding
Specific Gravity
37
Table 5 Volume of Sodium Laureth Sulphate (omo) with distilled water and the
corresponding
38
Table 6 Mass of Ammonium Dodecysulate (vinoz shampoo) and the corresponding API
gravity
40
Table 7 Volume of Sodium Laureth Sulphate (omo) with distilled water and the
corresponding plastic viscosity
41
Table 8 Volume of Sodium Laureth Sulphate (omo) with distilled water and the
corresponding Plastic Viscosity
43
Table 9 Volume of Ammonium Dodecysulate (vinoz shampoo) and the corresponding
Apparent Viscosity
44
Table10 Volume of Ammonium Dodecysulate (vinoz shampoo) and the corresponding
Apparent viscosity
46
Table 11 Volume of Sodium Laureth Sulphate (omo) with distilled water and the
corresponding surface tension
47
Table 12 Volume of Ammonium Dodecysulate (vinoz shampoo) and the corresponding
surface tension
49
Table 13 Volume of Sodium Laureth Sulphate (omo) with distilled water and the
corresponding cloud point
50
Table 14 Volume of Ammonium Dodecysulate (vinoz shampoo) and the corresponding
cloud point
52
Table 15 Volume of Sodium Laureth Sulphate (omo) with distilled water and the
Corresponding pour point
53
Table 16 Volume of Ammonium Dodecysulate (vinoz shampoo) and the corresponding pour
point
55
Table 17 Summary of foaming agents and crude oil properties used 57
viii
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1 Shear stress – shear rate plot for Newtonian fluids 11
Figure 2 Shear stress vs shear rate curves for non-Newtonian fluid 12
Figure 3 Pycnometer on weighing balance 21
Figure 4 Hydrometer in a measuring Cylinder 24
Figure 5 Rheometer 26
Figure 6 Schematic of Surface tension system 26
Figure 7 Tensiometer 28
Figure 8 Cloud and Pour Equipment 31
Figure 9 Plot of Crude oil density vs Volume of Sodium Laureth Sulphate (omo) 33
Figure 10 Plot of Crude oil density vs Volume of Ammonium Dodecysulate (vinoz shampoo) 34
Figure 11 Plot of Specific Gravity vs Volume of Sodium Laureth Sulphate (omo) 36
Figure 12 Plot of Specific Gravity vs Volume of Ammonium Dodecysulate (vinoz shampoo) 37
Figure 13 Plot of API gravity vs Volume of Sodium Laureth Sulphate (omo) with distilled water 39
Figure 14 Plot of API gravity vs Volume of Ammonium Dodecysulate (vinoz shampoo) 40
Figure 15 Plot of Apparent Viscosity vs volume of Sodium Laureth Sulphate (omo) with
distilled water
42
Figure 16 Plot of Plastic Viscosity vs Volume of Sodium Laureth Sulphate (omo) with distilled
water
43
Figure 17 Plot of Apparent Viscosity vs Volume of Ammonium Dodecysulate (vinoz) 45
Figure 18 Plot of Plastic Viscosity vs Mass of Ammonium Dodecysulate (vinoz shampoo) 46
Figure 19 Plot of Surface Tension vs Volume of Sodium Laureth Sulphate (omo) with distilled
water
48
Figure 20 Plot of Surface Tension vs Volume of Ammonium Dodecysulate (vinoz shampoo) 49
Figure 21 Plot of cloud point vs Volume of Sodium Laureth Sulphate (omo) with distilled water 51
Figure 22 Plot of Cloud point vs Volume of Ammonium Dodecysulate (vinoz shampoo) 52
Figure 23 Plot of Pour point vs Volume of Sodium Laureth Sulphate (omo) with distilled water 54
Figure 24 Plot of Pour point vs Volume of Ammonium Dodecysulate (vinoz shampoo) 55
1
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Crude Oil System
Crude Oil or Petroleum refers to any naturally-occurring flammable hydrocarbon
mixture found in geologic formations, such as rock strata, formed through the heating and
compression of organic material such as dead zooplankton and algae over a long period of
time. Technically, the term petroleum only refers to crude oil, but sometimes it is applied to
describe any solid, liquid or gaseous hydrocarbons. It is a hydrocarbon mixture having simple
to most complex structures such as resins, asphaltenes etc. Crude oil can be refined to
produce usable products such as gasoline, diesel and various forms of petrochemicals.
Crude oil is also a naturally occurring mixture, consisting of hydrocarbon with other
element such as sulphur, nitrogen, oxygen, etc. appearing in the form of organic compounds
which in some cases form complexes with metals. Elemental analysis of crude oil shows that
it contains mainly carbon and hydrogen in the appropriate ration of six to one by weight. The
mixture of hydrocarbon is highly complex, and the complexity increases with boiling range.
Crude oil is formed by bacterial transformation of Organic matter
(carbohydrates/proteins/ animal origin) by decay in presence and/or absence of air into HC
rich sediments by undergoing biological/physical and chemical alterations In its strictest
sense, crude oil, but in common usage it includes all liquid, gaseous, and solid hydrocarbons.
Under surface pressure and temperature conditions, lighter
hydrocarbons methane, ethane, propane and butane occur as gases, while pentane and heavier
ones are in the form of liquids or solids. However, in an underground oil reservoir the
proportions of gas, liquid, and solid depend on subsurface conditions and on the phase
diagram of the crude mixture.
2
1.2 Properties of crude oil system
Density
Density is defined as the mass per unit volume of a substance. It is most often
reported for oils in units of g/mL or g/cm3, and less often in units of kg/m3. Density is
temperature-dependent. Oil will float on water if the density of the oil is less than that of the
water. This will be true of all fresh crude oils, and most fuel oils, for both salt and fresh
water. Bitumen and certain residual fuel oils may have densities greater than 1.0 g/mL and
their buoyancy behaviour will vary depending on the salinity and temperature of the water.
The density of spilled oil will also increase with time, as the more volatile (and less dense)
components are lost. After considerable evaporation, the density of some crude oils may
increase enough for the oils to submerge below the water surface.
Two density-related properties of oils are often used: specific gravity and American
Petroleum Institute (API) gravity. Specific gravity (or relative density) is the ratio, at a
specified temperature, of the oil density to the density of pure water. The API gravity scale
arbitrarily assigns an API gravity of 10° to pure water. API gravity is
Calculated as:
API gravity (o
) = (141.5/ (specific gravity (60/60o
F) – 131.5 ………………………………… (1)
Oils with low densities, and hence low specific gravities, have high API gravities. The price
of a crude oil is usually based on its API gravity, with high gravity oils commanding higher
prices.
Pour Point
The pour point of an oil is the lowest temperature at which the oil will just flow, under
standard test conditions. The failure to flow at the pour point is usually attributed to the
3
separation of waxes from the oil, but can also be due to the effect of viscosity in the case of
very viscous oils. Also, particularly in the case of residual fuel oils, Pour points may be
influenced by the thermal history of the sample, that is, the degree and duration of heating
and cooling to which the sample has been exposed. From a spill response point of view, it
must be emphasized that the tendency of the oil to flow will be influenced by the size and
shape of the container, the head of the oil, and the physical structure of the solidified oil. The
pour point of the oils is therefore an indication, and not an exact measure, of the temperature
at which flow ceases.
Viscosity
Dynamic Viscosity: Viscosity is a measure of a fluid’s resistance to flow; the lower the
viscosity of a fluid, the more easily it flows.
Like density, viscosity is affected by temperature. As temperature decreases, viscosity
increases. The SI unit of dynamic viscosity is the millipascal-second (mPa∙s). This is
equivalent to the former unit of centipoise (cp). Viscosity is a very important property of oils
because it affects the rate at which crude oil will spread, the degree to which it will penetrate
shoreline substrates, and the selection of mechanical spill countermeasures equipment.
Viscosity measurements may be absolute or relative (sometimes called ‘apparent’).
Absolute viscosities are those measured by a standard method, with the results traceable to
fundamental units. Absolute viscosities are distinguished from relative measurements made
with instruments that measure viscous drag in a fluid, without known and/or uniform applied
shear rates.
Sulphur
The sulphur content of a crude oil is important for a number of reasons. Downstream
processes such as catalytic cracking and refining will be adversely affected by high sulphur
4
contents. Crude oil containing a high amount of the impurity (sulfur) is referred to as sour
crude oil, when the total sulfur level in the oil is more than 0.5% the oil is called “sour”. The
impurity needs to be removed before this lower-quality crude can be refined into petrol,
thereby increasing the cost of processing.
The majority of the sulfur in crude oil occurs bonded to carbon atoms, with a small
amount occurring as elemental sulfur in solution and as hydrogen sulfide gas. Sour oil can be
toxic and corrosive, especially when the oil contains higher levels of hydrogen sulphide,
which is a breathing hazard. At low concentrations the gas gives the oil the smell of rotting
eggs. For safety reasons, sour crude oil needs to be stabilized by having hydrogen sulfide gas
(H2S) removed from it before being transported by oil tankers. This results in a higher-priced
gasoline than that made from sweet crude oil.
Basic Sediment and Water Content (BS&W)
Basic sediment and water (BS&W) is a technical specification of certain impurities in
crude oil. When extracted from an oil reservoir, the crude oil contains some amount of water
and suspended solids from the reservoir. The particulate matter is known as sediment or mud.
The water content can vary greatly from field to field, and may be present in large quantities
for older fields, or if oil extraction is enhanced using water injection technology.
The bulk of the water and sediment is usually separated at the field to minimize the
quantity that needs to be transported further. The residual content of these unwanted
impurities is measured as BS&W. Oil refineries may either buy crude to a certain BS&W
specification or may alternatively have initial crude oil dehydration and desalting process
units that reduce the BS&W to acceptable limits, or a combination thereof.
5
Chemical Composition of Crude oil
Carbon – 83.0 to 87.0%
Hydrogen – 10.0 to 14.0 %
Sulphur – 0.05 to 6.0 %
Nitrogen – 0.1 to 2.0 %
Oxygen – 0.05 to 1.5 %
Metals – 0.00 to 0.14 %
1.3 Characterization of Crude Oil
Crude oil is a naturally occurring liquid, mineral oil consisting of a variety of organic
compounds, mainly saturated and aromatic hydrocarbons, but also more complex
compounds. The oil industry characterizes the quality of the oil using:
API Gravity
The American Petroleum Institute gravity, or API gravity, is a measure of how heavy or
light a petroleum liquid is compared to water: if its API gravity is greater than 10, it is lighter
and floats on water; if less than 10, it is heavier and sinks. The API degrees indicate whether
a crude oil floats on water or sinks, Higher API gravity is preferred in the petroleum
industry.(API gravity > 10)
API gravity (o
) = (141.5/ (density at 60o
F)) – 131.5 ………………………………………. (2)
6
Viscosity
It is the resistance to flow, usually measured @ 100o
F in centistokes (kinematic
viscosity). Crude oil with low viscosity is preferred in the petroleum industry because it
receives a higher price than heavy crude oil on commodity markets because it produces a
higher percentage of gasoline and diesel fuel when converted into products by an oil refinery.
Surface Tension
Surface tension is the elastic tendency of liquids which makes them acquire the
least surface area possible. Surface tension is an important property that markedly influences
oil production. It is also referred to as the force that holds the surface of a particular phase
together and is normally measured in dynes/cm.
Pour Point
The pour point of a liquid is the temperature at which it becomes semi solid and loses its
flow characteristics. In crude oil a high pour point is generally associated with a high paraffin
content, typically found in crude derived from a larger proportion of plant material.
Flash Point
The flash point of crude oil is the temperature above which the oil will spontaneously
combust. The flash point of a volatile material is the lowest temperature at which it can
vaporizes to form an ignitable mixture in air.
7
1.4 Foaming Agents
A foaming agent is a material that facilitates formation of foam such as a surfactant or
a blowing agent. A surfactant, when present in small amounts of crude oil, reduces surface
tension of the oil (reduces the work needed to create the foam) or increases
its colloidal stability by inhibiting coalescence of bubbles. A blowing agent is a gas that
forms the gaseous part of the foam.
A foam on the other hand is a dispersion of gas in liquid, usually with a surface-active
agent present. Foams are not thermo-dynamically stable and ultimately decay into their
constituent phases, but can be mechanically stable. When a foam exists inside a confining
medium, dimensions of this confining medium relative to the average bubble size determine
the texture and properties of the foam. When the confining diameter is large relative to
typical bubble size, such as in a pipe, the foam is similar to bulk foam. Its flow can then be
treated as that of a non-Newtonian, compressible pseudo fluid.
The ability of foam to reduce gas mobility has led to its application in a number of
processes, including gas flooding, steam flooding, and oil reservoir treatment techniques. It
has been somewhat uncertain whether foam in these cases actually works by gas blockage
and flow diversion, or whether it is better described as a “viscosifying agent” for the gas.
Foams often forms in crude oil by adding foaming agents, it also formed as the crude
oil pressure is reduced in the reservoir, well bore, tubing string or flow line. In short, foam
forms essentially instantaneously after a pressure drop. Many crude oils have the potential of
creating foam carry-over, even though it is popular to blame a factor such as asphaltenes,
paraffin, emulsions, high crude viscosities, or poorly designed internals around the crude oil,
8
Surfactants
Surfactants are compounds that lower the surface tension (or interfacial tension)
between two liquids or between a liquid and a solid. Surfactants may act as detergents,
wetting agents, emulsifiers, foaming agents, and dispersants. Surfactants are usually organic
compounds that are amphiphilic, meaning they contain both hydrophobic groups (their tails)
and hydrophilicgroups (their heads). Therefore, a surfactant contains both a water insoluble
(and oil soluble) component and a water soluble component. Surfactants will diffuse in water
and adsorb at interfaces between air and water or at the interface between oil and water, in the
case where water is mixed with oil.
Sodium laureth sulphate, or sodium lauryl ether sulphate (SLES) for example , is
a detergent and surfactant found in many personal care products
(soaps, shampoos, toothpastes, etc.). It is an inexpensive and effective foamer. Sodium lauryl
sulfate (also known as sodium dodecyl sulfate or SDS) and ammonium lauryl sulfate (ALS)
are commonly used alternatives to SLES in consumer products.
1.5 Factors Contributing to Crude Oil Foam Formation
The amount of foam that a crude oil system can create, the stability of the foaming
agent or the foam and even, the capacity to create gas/ liquid films depend on the
characteristics of the gas dissolved. Gases that do not have an affinity for the crude oil tend to
form unstable foams. However, if the gas is soluble in the oil, foams can be formed and the
extent will depend on the pressure and temperature of the system.
The initial Gas to Oil Ratio (GOR) in the crude oil determines the quantity of gas that
can be released, which is related to the foam formation. It also bears on foam stability by the
number of bubbles and their size distribution. Sheng J.J.et al (1997), the composition of the
crude oil is equally important to the eventual foaming properties. There are several
9
constituents that can promote the formation of foam and/or stabilize it once it is generated.
For example, Callaghan I.C.et al (1985), have found that short-chain carboxylic acids and
phenols with a molecular mass lower than 400 are responsible for foam production. Other
authors evoke asphaltenes and resins as the primary cause of foam. Poindexter M.K., et al
(2002), identified several parameters that are important for controlling the foaming behaviour
of crude-oils, which include bulk viscosity and density, oil-gas surface tension, asphaltenes
and resins content and their molecular weight.
Viscosity plays an important role in any foam (aqueous or non-aqueous) because it is
directly related to the drainage of interstitial fluid in the foam. In addition to lowering the
drainage rate, high viscosity systems can also lower the rate of gas diffusion between bubbles
(Ostwald ripening) and both effects tend to promote foam stability. In fact, Poindexter et al.
(2002), indicate that crude oils with bulk viscosities lower than 150cp at 37.8 o C produce
little or no foam. On the other hand, Fraga A.K.et al (2011), have evaluated high viscosity
oils and find that these oils did not generate foams even when they contain high levels of
stabilizing species. As with aqueous foam, the surface properties of liquid-gas interface in
crude-oil foam are also important. In particular it has been found that the surface rheological
Behaviour plays an important role in stabilizing the Thin-liquid films in the foam.
The presence of other phases apart from oil and gas, such as water or solids, can also
influence the foam behaviour and stability. Along these lines Marcano L., et al (2009), have
studied the stability of foams formed from Diesel oil and fatty acids surfactants (to simulate
Venezuelan crude oils) with dispersed water. They found that it is possible to create stable
foam by adding water at concentrations higher than 2%. They suggest that when water is
present in the system, the bubbles formed will be surrounded by water and dispersed in the
oil, originating an air/water/oil dispersed system stabilized by the mixture of surfactants, the
low molecular weight surfactants being adsorbed at the air/water interface, and the high
10
molecular weight surfactants being adsorbed at the water/oil interface. In their review on
foamy oil flow, Sheng J.J., et al (1999), indicate that the presence of water has no measurable
effect on the nucleation of bubbles, hence on bubble frequency but it has an influence on the
rheological behaviour of the mixtures.
Viscosity of the water-in-oil emulsion. As already mentioned, the presence of solid
particles at the interface (sand, aggregates, salts, etc.) can stabilize foam. Furthermore, foam
creation and stability can also be enhanced in solid porous media. Sheng et al. (1997) indicate
higher stability foam can be achieved in a porous media than that in a bulk vessel. This effect
is a consequence of the wetting behaviour of the media and its subsequent influence on the
capillary pressure imposed on the thin foam films.
1.6 Properties of foam
When foaming agents are added to crude oil it forms foams. Foams are a structured
two phase in liquid dispersions, whose rheological properties are difficult and on the other
hand, the physical properties are easy to determine
Rheological properties : The two phase nature of foams suggest its non-Newtonian
behaviour, all fluids which do not exhibit direct proportionality between shear stress and
shear rate at a constant temperature and pressure, are generally classified as non-Newtonian
while all fluids or substances that direct proportionality between shear stress and shear rate
follows the viscous law’s.
For Newtonians fluid, the stress acting on an elements of material is proportional to
the corresponding time derivative of strain (the constant of proportionality is called the
viscosity) and the viscosity is independent of time and strain measured from any reference
state.
11
Figure 1: shear stress – shear rate plot for Newtonian fluids
For non-Newtonians fluid it exhibits a variety of plastics flow behaviours because of their
compressibility. Plasticity is manifested when a substance will not flow at low rates of shear
until a certain critical value of shear has been reached, surface plasticity is manifested when
the surface viscosity non Newtonian, but the bulk viscosity of the solution is Newtonian.
Foam characteristics measurement is affected by pressure, temperature, shear history and
foaming agents/surfactant solution surface properties, which depend on the mixed chain
length of the surfactants amongst others.
Newtonian
Shear
Stress
Shear rate
12
Figure 2: shear stress vs shear rate curves for non-Newtonian fluids
Physical properties: Physically, foams are characterized by quality, texture, bubble size
ranges, stability and compressibility:
a. Foam Quality (T):
The quality of foam is its volumetric gas content, it is the percentage fraction of the foam
volume (bulk) that is gas and can be expressed as;
T=gaseous volume/total foam volume …………………………. (1.3.1)
This quality has been observed to increase with increasing temperature and decreasing
pressure, as the gas volume will increase in both situations. This gas dissolved in the bulk
phase can also come out from solution
Dilatant
Pseudo plastic
Visco Plastic
Shear stress
Shear rate
13
b. Foam Texture:
It is a measure of the average bubble size. Foam texture determines largely how the
foam will flow through a permeable medium. If the average bubble sixe is larger than the
average pore diameter, the foam flows as a progression of films separating individual gas
bubbles.
Given typical foam textures and pore sizes, this condition is most nearly realised in
permeable flow, particularly for high quality foams.
c. Bubble size range:
The bubble size range of foams can be used to classify its stability, it is the
distribution of foam bubble sizes. Foams with a large distribution range are more likely to be
unstable because of the gas diffusion from large to small bubbles.
d. Foam stability:
Foam is composed of a multitude of gas-liquid interfaces. Naturally, these form a
thermodynamically unstable system whose surface energy naturally tends to decrease.
Surfactants is added to the fluid mix to make the system thermodynamically stable.
e. Compressibility
The presence of the gas phase makes the fluid compressible, foams are the only
compressible non Newtonian fluid known (Marsden, S.T. Khan, A. (1996).These review of
the physical properties of foams alongside its rheological properties reveals the influence of
the ”quality” factor on most of its properties. The quality determines the specific gravity and
the stability of the fluids in correlation with their apparent viscosity,
14
1.7 Statement of Problem
This work entail the investigation of the effect of foaming agents in crude oil system.
Oil is been held by capillary forces in the reservoir and the higher the capillary forces, the
higher the surface tension of the oil system the more viscous the oil tends to be. The pysiochemical properties of the oil system are also affected. But the addition of foam reduces the
surface tension of the oil and the surface energy decreases, thereby making oil production
easier.
This research work is to investigate the effect of the foaming agents in the physiochemical properties of the oil system and see if the addition of such agents can improve
production from the reservoir.
1.8 Objective of the work
The objective of the work is to study/investigate the effect of the foaming agents in
the physio-chemical properties of the oil system and see if the addition of such agents can
improve production, and also to determine the properties of the crude oil and the foaming
agents used such as Density, Specific Gravity, API gravity , viscosity, Surface Tension and
Pour point before and after the addition of the foaming agents, noting the differences between
the properties, correlating and establishing a relationship between the findings.
1.9 Scope/Justification of the work
“The Effect of foaming agents on Crude Oil System” was investigated in this research work.
The study of Foam formation in crude oil would help to understand the positive and negative
impact of foams in oil, this research work is limited only to crude oil properties such as cloud
and pour point, API gravity, viscosity, density, surface tension and specific gravity
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