Micromodels to Study Permeability and Wettability Effects On Foam Stability

We describe the use of micromodels to study surfactant stabilized foams in heterogeneous porous media. The surface wettability of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) micochannels can be patterned with UV ozone, allowing one to tune capillary forces precisely.  Combined with pore patterning, we can create model that is designed to represent the geometric structure of the rock pore network, while allowing visualization of the flow phenomena.  With this model, we can examine the stability of foams flowing in porous media with the use of good and poor foaming surfactants.  Additionally, we will discuss foam stability with and without the presence of oil.