Abstract
The generation of strong foam in homogeneous porous media has been reported to be a function of flow rate, pressure drop, permeability, and system length. This study seeks to explain foam generation in terms of dimensionless groups and establish the criteria for foam generation based on the mobilization of stationary foam lamellae.
Steady-state theories and experiments in the literature suggested the existence of a critical pressure gradient for foam mobilization that is inversely proportional to permeability. Experiments involving transient displacement of surfactant solution with gas injection, however, revealed a critical pressure drop that is inversely proportional to the square-root of permeability. The observation led to a new criterion for mobilization and foam generation in transient experiments, that the pressure drop across the displacement front must exceed the pressure drop to mobilize a single lamella.
