For understanding foam rheology in porous media

experimental investigations were carried out concerning foam lamellae flow characteristics in a straight tube. Foam is treated as single phase non-Newtonian fluid and its flow behavior was studied based on power law constitutive model. It is observed the film foam flow exhibits remarkably high apparent viscosity and obvious shear-thinning behavior

with flow consistency coefficient of K=0.11 and flow behavior index of n=0.61 for CO2 foam. Parameter studies were carried out for different internal gas types. It is found N2 foam is stronger than CO2 foam due to the water solubility of CO2 gas. Non-dimensional analysis was performed and a fit model with a threshold value of 0.71 was proposed based on experimental data

which indicates a startup pressure difference is necessary to mobilize the lamellae. The fit model is deemed to predict foam dynamic flow behavior in porous media in a more realistic and accurate manner.