Young scientist wins accolade at international forum on subsoil resources
Dmitry Zharkov, Lab Assistant of the Laboratory of Enhanced Oil Recovery, presented his research at the 18th International Forum-Competition of Young Scientists ‘Pertinent Problems of Subsoil Resources’.
The forum gathered 900 contributors from 19 countries; it was held by Saint-Petersburg Mining University.
Dmitry Zharkov’s report was titled ‘Selective gas blocking with stabilized foams in a heterogeneous oil and gas reservoir’. He was supervised by Research Associate of the Laboratory of Rheological and Thermochemical Research Emil Sayfullin.
As Zharkov explains, the observed technology helps prevent gas breakthrough from the gas “cap”, maintain reservoir pressure and extend the life of fields developed in natural gas drive mode, “As a result, investments in the reservoir pressure maintenance system are not required. Foam has been little studied by Russian science, although its application is extensive: alignment of the displacement profile, increase in coverage when treating the bottomhole zone, and replacement to surfactant solutions. The main advantage of foam systems is selectivity and low consumption of foaming surfactants.”
Highly permeable zones must be blocked, the scholar emphasizes. However, this kind of blocking should be selective – the impact will only affect the flow of gas, without interfering with the flow of oil. Foam is an ideal option for solving the problem. The development makes it possible to trap gas and does not resist the flow of oil.