Experimental Study of Flooding both Low Salinity Water and Foam in Sandstone Reservoirs Bearing Heavy Crude Oil

Many studies have been performed to increase oil recovery by using low salinity (LS) water flooding in the tertiary recovery mode due to its impact in altering the rock wettability towards being more water-wet, resulting in improved oil recovery. Foam was also utilized to enhance oil recovery due to its ability to increase residual oil mobility and sweep efficiency. In this study, we combine both LS water and foam to utilize the benefits of both EOR techniques.

To evaluate the combination EOR techniques, Berea sandstone cores were allotted for core-flooding experiments. The core-flooding results showed that an increased heavy oil recovery was obtained by injecting foam and lowering water salinity. The contact angle measurements agreed with the core-flooding observations.