Experimentally-Based Empirical Foam Modeling

Abstract

Abstract This paper presents fine-scale numerical simulations and mathematical analysis of the empirical foam model for representing foam-surfactant flow in a vertical column of laboratory sand-pack based on two sets of experimental data conducted at variable total velocities and variable foam qualities.The empirical foam model of CMG-STASRS is used for parametric matching of laboratory data, and relevant foam parameters are calibrated.The paper discusses experimental setup, procedure and measurements to provide apparent foam viscosity data needed for foam modeling. In the first set of lab tests, foam quality is constant and the total fluid superficial velocity varies for foam shear thinning effect; while in the second tests, foam quality is varied at a fixed total superficial velocity to capture different flow regimes and foam dry-out characteristics.Employing an analytical method and 1-D numerical simulations of the foam flow in the sand-pack, the empirical foam model is tuned to the first data set of variable velocity and used to predict the second data set of variable quality as a consistency check.The model predictions for the second data set as well as the associated sensitivity analysis prove that the foam modeling procedure of this paper is unique and applicable for large-scale predictions.