Bulk foam stability and rheological behavior of aqueous foams prepared by clay particles and alpha olefin sulfonate

Abstract In recent years, nanoparticle-stabilized foam has become an important research domain to solve the foam stability issues under severe conditions because of its unique advantages. The aim of this study is to seek a better understanding for the application of foams stabilized by the mixtures of nanoparticles and anionic surfactant in chemical enhanced oil recovery (EOR). Properties of the aqueous foams prepared by alpha olefin sulfonate (AOS) and clay particle dispersions are examined using foam stability and rheological behavior analysis. The AOS/clay dispersions have a synergistic effect on the stability of foam and the foam stability increases with the clay particle concentration. Compared with surface charge, the hydrophobicity of particles directly influences foam stability and the most hydrophobic clay particles in AOS/clay dispersions own the most stable foams. With the addition of clay particles, the viscoelasticity modulus of both liquid film and bulk solution for AOS/clay dispersions are enhanced. The film damping coefficient results reveal that more energy from outside will be effectively used for AOS liquid film after the addition of clay particles. The clay particles are believed to stabilize foams by increasing extensional viscoelasticity modulus of AOS/clay dispersions and also by adsorbing on bubble surface, thus a three-dimensional network structure is formed between armored bubbles to slow bubble coalescence and disproportionation.