Fluoropolymer Microemulsion: Preparation and Application in Reservoir Wettability Reversal and Enhancing Oil Recovery

Abstract

Reservoir wettability is an important factor in the process of reservoir reconstruction. Especially in hydrophilic formation, it is easy to cause a water-locked phenomenon. A new type of fluoropolymer microemulsion was prepared by emulsion polymerization, and its structure and properties were characterized. The average particle size in the prepared emulsion was about 2.0 μm. The emulsion had good stability and wettability reversal performance for the storage of 30 days. After the treatment of 2.0 wt % emulsion, the contact angle between the core and water changed from 26 to 128°, the core surface free energy decreased from 66 to 2.6 mN/m, and the saturated water imbibition amount of the core decreased from 1.38 to 0.15 g. The ability of the fluoropolymer microemulsion to enhance oil recovery was evaluated by the visual displacement experiment. The fluoropolymer microemulsion can increase the displacement efficiency by more than 10%. The wettability of the core changed from hydrophilicity to hydrophobicity, and wettability reversal was achieved.