Abstract: In order to investigate the influence of the tackifier on the water-based foam performance,the sodium carboxymethyl cellulose is selected to analyze the relationship between the surface tension and viscosity of the foam solution.The results show that the solution viscosity increases slowly with the increase of the tackifier concentration when its concentration is less than 4g/L.Subsequently,the viscosity presents a rapid increase.The surface tension decreases rapidly with the increase of the tackifier concentration when it is less than 2g/L,then keeps stable.The foam life is measured by an improved pressure method,and the Ar-t equations for different concentrations of the sodium carboxymethyl cellulose are obtained using the fitting method.The gravity drainage coefficient and diffusion drainage coefficient,which are characterized by the decay process of foam,are used to obtain the quantitative data of the foam stability.It is found that the foam stability increases with the increase of the tackifier concentration,while the solution foaming ability decreases with its concentration.The decay process of the foam produced by the viscous bubble solution is mainly affected by the diffusion drainage.