An experimental investigation of MoS2 nanosheets stabilized foams for enhanced oil recovery application

Foam flooding is one of the enhanced oil recovery (EOR) techniques to minimize the gas mobility and improve the sweep efficiency. One of the major hindrances of foam flooding is the foam generation and stabilization under reservoir conditions. These difficulties were overcome by using the mixture of surfactant and nano-particles which offers a stable foam under porous medium. This work examines the synergetic effect of foam generated by alpha olefin sulfonate (AOS) and MoS2 nanosheets on the foamability and oil recovery performance. The generated foam is found to be stable in the presence of Ca2+ and Na+ ions. Also, the half-life of the foam is enhanced due to the formation of a protective layer around the foam lamellar by the nanosheets. The sandpack experiments were used to prove its enhanced oil recovery ability. The obtained results exhibit that the MoS2 nanosheets stabilized foam has an incremental oil recovery.