Capillary Trapping of CO₂ in Oil Reservoirs: Observations in a Mixed-Wet Carbonate Rock

Abstract

Early deployment of carbon dioxide storage is likely to focus on injection into mature oil reservoirs, most of which occur in carbonate rock units. Observations and modeling have shown how capillary trapping leads to the immobilization of CO2 in saline aquifers, enhancing the security and capacity of storage. There are, however, no observations of trapping in rocks with a mixed-wet-state characteristic of hydrocarbon-bearing carbonate reservoirs. Here, we found that residual trapping of supercritical CO2 in a limestone altered to a mixed-wet state with oil was significantly less than trapping in the unaltered rock. In unaltered samples, the trapping of CO2 and N2 were indistinguishable, with a maximum residual saturation of 24%. After the alteration of the wetting state, the trapping of N2 was reduced, with a maximum residual saturation of 19%. The trapping of CO2 was reduced even further, with a maximum residual saturation of 15%. Best-fit Land-model constants shifted from C = 1.73 in the water-wet rock to C = 2.82 for N2 and C = 4.11 for the CO2 in the mixed-wet rock. The results indicate that plume migration will be less constrained by capillary trapping for CO2 storage projects using oil fields compared with those for saline aquifers.

Pore Scale Observations of Trapped CO2 in Mixed-Wet Carbonate Rock: Applications to Storage in Oil Fields

“…However, in an earlier related work, Al-Menhali and Krevor (2016), it was 15 identified that an important trapping mechanism, residual trapping, is weakened in rocks with …”

The Impact of Crude Oil Induced Wettability Alteration on Remaining Saturations of CO2 in Carbonates Reservoirs: A Core Flood Method

“…Table 2 lists some of the results of the N 2 capillary trapping measurements made on a water-wet limestone carbonates. Please refer to [Al-Menhali and Krevor, 2016] for final findings and complete IR results of this study. …”

Simulating secondary waterflooding in heterogeneous rocks with variable wettability using an image‐based, multiscale pore network model

“…Recent measurements by Al‐Menhali and Krevor [] indicate a residual nonwetting saturation (of CO 2 and N 2 in their case) of around 0.25 for initial non‐wetting saturations around 0.42, for a water‐wet Estaillades sample. At this initial saturation, almost the complete macroporosity network is drained (about 50% of the total pore volume), while the microporosity likely remained water‐filled.…”