Pore-Scale Oil Connectivity and Displacement by Controlled-Ionic-Composition Waterflooding Using Synchrotron X-Ray Microtomography

Qin, Tianzhu; Fenter, Paul; Alotaibi, Mohammed B.; Ayirala, Subhash C.; Al-Yousef, Ali

doi:10.2118/201618-pa

Cited by 5 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…2 bii) shows that the oil occupies the center of the pores at high oil saturation but stayed in the pore corners and formed flow channels in the pores at low oil saturation. The connectivity of these channels was quantified using the normalized Euler number of the oil phase following the approach in previous works 14 – 16 (Fig. 2 c).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Natural petroleum oil from a carbonate reservoir 16 was amended with di-iododecane to provide contrast in the X-ray CT images with respect to the aqueous phase 14 . Synthetic brines (synthesized formation brine, TailoredWater1 (TW1), and TailoredWater2 (TW2)) composed of different ions were applied in this study.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The sensitivity of oil-rock interactions to the presence of these active ions has been observed using in-situ observations of oil–water-rock contact angles observed in recent X-ray tomography studies 11 , 12 . Notably, injection water with high sulfate concentrations was seen to alter the wettability of pore surfaces within minutes of exposure 13 , 14 .…”

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confidence: 99%

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Systematic observations of enhanced oil recovery and associated changes at carbonate-brine and carbonate-petroleum interfaces

Qin,

Fenter,

AlOtaibi

et al. 2023

Sci Rep

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Enhanced oil recovery (EOR) from carbonates is obtained by injection of controlled ionic strength brines containing “active ions” (e.g., SO42−, Mg2+, Ca2+). It is generally believed that this occurs through the interaction of the active ions at the carbonate-brine interface (e.g., within a thin brine layer separating the petroleum and the carbonate phases). Here, in-situ observations show how one active ion, SO42−, alters behavior at the carbonate-petroleum interface. Displacement of petroleum from initially oil-wet carbonate rocks using brines with variable SO4 concentrations systematically changes oil recovery, in situ contact angles, and connectivity of the oil phase, confirming that the active ion alters interactions at the oil/brine/carbonate interface, as expected. Measurements of model calcite-fluid interfaces show that there is no measurable sorption of SO4 to carbonate-brine interfaces but reveals that the carbonate-petroleum interface is altered by previous exposure to SO4-containing brines. These results suggest that EOR in carbonates is controlled indirectly by active ions. We propose that this may be due to a reduced oleophilicity of the carbonate caused by chemical complexation between the active ion and petroleum’s acidic and basic functional groups. This mechanism explains how both anions and cations act as active ions for EOR in carbonates.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Systematic observations of enhanced oil recovery and associated changes at carbonate-brine and carbonate-petroleum interfaces

Qin,

Fenter,

AlOtaibi

et al. 2023

Sci Rep

Self Cite

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“…Presently, the target objects for oil/gas exploration and development are changed from conventional oil/gas reservoirs to unconventional oil/gas reservoirs, from high permeability oil/gas reservoirs to low permeability oil/gas reservoirs, and from medium to shallow oil/gas reservoirs to deep oil/gas reservoirs, so that new oilfield chemical materials are urgently used to enhance the efficient development of oil and gas [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ]. Based on this background, nanomaterials have emerged, displaying exceptional potential in applications in the field of oil/gas exploration and development [ 7 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Study on the Effect of Cations on the Surface Energy of Nano-SiO2 Particles for Oil/Gas Exploration and Development Based on the Density Functional Theory

Ni,

Zhang,

Wang

et al. 2024

Molecules

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Although nano SiO2 exhibits excellent application potential in the field of oil and gas exploration and development, such as drilling fluid, enhanced oil/gas recovery, etc., it is prone to agglomeration and loses its effectiveness due to the action of cations in saline environments of oil and gas reservoirs. Therefore, it is crucial to study the mechanism of the change in energy between nano SiO2 and cations for its industrial application. In this paper, the effect of cations (Na+, K+, Ca2+, and Mg2+) on the surface energy of nano SiO2 particles is investigated from the perspective of molecular motion and electronic change by density functional theory. The results are as follows: Due to the electrostatic interactions, cations can migrate towards the surface of nano SiO2 particles. During the migration process, monovalent cations are almost unaffected by water molecules, and they can be directly adsorbed on the surface by nano SiO2 particles. However, when divalent cations migrate from a distance to the surface of nano SiO2 particles, they can combine with water molecules to create an energy barrier, which can prevent them from moving forward. When divalent cations break through the energy barrier, the electronic kinetic energy between them and nano SiO2 particles changes more strongly, and the electrons carried by them are more likely to break through the edge of the atomic nucleus and undergo charge exchange with nano SiO2 particles. The change in interaction energy is more intense, which can further disrupt the configuration stability of nano SiO2. The interaction energy between cations and nano SiO2 particles mainly comes from electrostatic energy, followed by Van der Waals energy. From the degree of influence of four cations on nano SiO2 particles, the order from small to large is as follows: K+ < Na+ < Mg2+ < Ca2+. The research results can provide a theoretical understanding of the interaction between nano SiO2 particles and cations during the application of nano SiO2 in the field of oil and gas exploration and development.

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“…As shown in Equation (3), general studies of displacement in artificial core or micro model were conducted in the context that an extra pressure drop is applied [9,10]. However, spontaneous imbibition, which refers to the wetting phase flowing spontaneously into the porous media or single channel and displacing the non-wetting phase only by the capillary force [11], does not consider the extra pressure.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Abnormal Phenomena and Mathematical Model of Fluid Imbibition in a Capillary Tube

et al. 2022

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At present, the imbibition behavior in tight rocks has been attracted increasing attention since spontaneous imbibition plays an important role in unconventional oil and gas development, such as increasing swept area and enhancing recovery rate. However, it is difficult to describe the imbibition behavior through imbibition experiment using tight rock core. To characterize the imbibition behavior, imbibition and drainage experiments were conducted among water, oil, and gas phases in a visible circular capillary tube. The whole imbibition process is monitored using a microfluidic platform equipped with a high frame rate camera. This study conducts two main imbibition experiments, namely liquid-displacing-air and water-displacing-oil experiments. The latter is a spontaneous imbibition that the lower-viscosity liquid displaces the higher-viscosity liquid. For the latter, the tendency of imbibition rate with time does not match with previous model. The experimental results indicate that it is unreasonable to take no account of the effect of accumulated liquid flowing out of the capillary tube on imbibition, especially in the imbibition experiments where the lower-viscosity liquid displaces the higher-viscosity liquid. A mathematical model is established by introducing an additional force to describe the imbibition behavior in capillary tube, and the model shows a good prediction effect on the tendency of imbibition rate with time. This study discovers and analyzes the effect of additional force on imbibition, and the analysis has significances to understand the imbibition behavior in tight rocks.

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Pore-Scale Oil Connectivity and Displacement by Controlled-Ionic-Composition Waterflooding Using Synchrotron X-Ray Microtomography

Cited by 5 publications

References 37 publications

Systematic observations of enhanced oil recovery and associated changes at carbonate-brine and carbonate-petroleum interfaces

Systematic observations of enhanced oil recovery and associated changes at carbonate-brine and carbonate-petroleum interfaces

Study on the Effect of Cations on the Surface Energy of Nano-SiO2 Particles for Oil/Gas Exploration and Development Based on the Density Functional Theory

Abnormal Phenomena and Mathematical Model of Fluid Imbibition in a Capillary Tube

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