Impact of Brine on Disjoining Pressure and Rock Wettability of Oil, Brine, and Mineral Systems
Publication: Journal of Energy Engineering
Volume 148, Issue 4
Abstract
The alteration of rock wettability is essential for improving the efficiency of low-salinity water flooding. However, the fundamental understanding of this process remains unclear. In this paper, an extended Derjguin–Landau–Verwey–Overbeek (DLVO) theoretical model was applied to study the effects of cation types, brine concentrations, and mineral types on rock wettability in an oil–brine system. The zeta potential was measured to analyze the electric double layer. The oil–rock contact angles were tested to evaluate the wettability. The disjoining pressure was also estimated to analyze the rock wettability changes. The divalent cation showed a greater ability to compress the electric double layer. The lower concentrations of cations led to a thicker water film, promoting the detachment of oil from the rock surface. Clay minerals showed a greater impact on the wettability of rocks than quartz. This study improves the fundamental understandings of alteration of wettability in brine, oil, and rock systems and elucidates the mechanisms of disjoining pressure effects on low-salinity water flooding while shedding some light on improving the performance of low-salinity water flooding.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request: the code of calculation of disjoining pressure and interaction potential.
Acknowledgments
This study was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 51904320 and 51874339) and National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2020YFA0711804).
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Published In
Journal of Energy Engineering
Volume 148 • Issue 4 • August 2022
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© 2022 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Nov 9, 2021
Accepted: Feb 19, 2022
Published online: Apr 21, 2022
Published in print: Aug 1, 2022
Discussion open until: Sep 21, 2022
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