A Pore-Level Investigation of Foam/Oil Interactions in Porous Media

Abstract

Summary Direct visual studies of foam flow in etched-glass micromodels containing residual oil demonstrate that foam decays as a result of breakage of pseudoemulsion films. Foam films collapse whenever nearby thin aqueous films separating gas bubbles and oil rupture. Consequently, surfactant formulation for foam insensitivity to oil in porous media should be based on stabilizing pseudo-emulsion films.