Wettability Alteration and Spontaneous Imbibition in Unconventional Liquid Reservoirs by Surfactant Additives

Alvarez, Johannes O.; Schechter, David S.

doi:10.2118/177057-ms

Cited by 32 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 1 publication

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“…This wetting preference is characteristic of Bakken as ULR due to the mixture of water-wet inorganic pores and oil-wet organic pores. Consequently, these oil and mixed wettabilities are also encountered in other studies from different ULR such as Wolfcamp, Barnett and Eagle Ford as measured by NMR methods (Odusina et al 2011) and CA methods (Alvarez et al 2014;Alvarez and Schechter 2015). Moreover, at field-used concentrations of 1 gpt and 2 gpt, surfactants and CNF are capable of altering wettability towards water-wet in all the Bakken samples tested and their efficacy depends on surfactant type and mineral composition.…”

Section: Contact Angle Experimentsmentioning

confidence: 57%

“…After processing the CT data, quantitative experimental results are obtained, and color-coded relative density images are generated using an open source software package called ImageJ. Further details are provided in Alvarez and Schechter (2015).…”

Section: Spontaneous Imbibition Experiments Monitored By Ct Scan Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The effectiveness of fracture treatments in ULR can be improved when chemical additives are added to completion fluids altering wettability, reducing interfacial tension (IFT) and improving water imbibition (Alvarez et al 2014;Alvarez and Schechter 2015). Wettability and IFT alteration can increase oil recovery by changing capillarity when changing oil-wet formations to water-wet formations, and reducing IFT without reaching ultralow values.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Just recently, the industry has developed its interest in this area and there is scarce literature on wettability alteration and its potential for IOR (Alvarez et al 2014;Alvarez and Schechter 2015;Nguyen et al 2014;Wang et al 2012;Wang et al 2015;Xu et al 2015). However, these studies have shown promising potential for wettability alteration by surfactant additives in improving oil recovery by imbibition.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Altering Wettability in Bakken Shale by Surfactant Additives and Potential of Improving Oil Recovery During Injection of Completion Fluids

Alvarez

Schechter

2016

SPE Improved Oil Recovery Conference

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Fracture treatment performance in Bakken shale reservoirs can be improved by altering rock wettability, as measured with contact angle (CA), from oil-wet to water-wet. Altering the wettability with the use of chemical additives also results in alteration of the interfacial tension (IFT). The Young-Laplace equation relates the capillary pressure to IFT and contact angle. Thus, it follows that capillarity is significant in nano-pores associated with unconventional liquid reservoirs (ULR) and complex as the CA and IFT varies simultaneously. We carefully evaluate these interactive variables to improve oil recovery by alteration of capillary pressure by understanding the wetting state of siliceous and carbonate Bakken cores with and without chemical additives. We have observed that wettability can be altered from the ULR natural state of oil-wet to systems favoring frac fluid imbibition. Surfactants can be added to completion fluids, in proper concentrations, to alter wettability while hydraulic fracturing the formation. This experimental study evaluates and compares the efficiency of anionic and nonionic surfactants, and complex nanofluids (CNF) on recovering liquid hydrocarbons from Bakken shale cores by analyzing the effect of wettability and IFT alteration and their impact on spontaneous imbibition.The original wettability of Bakken cores is determined by CA measurements. Then, two surfactant types, anionic and nonionic, and CNF are evaluated to gauge their effectiveness in altering wettability. The results show that all surfactants and CNF are able to shift core wettability from oil-wet to water-wet. However, chemical additives efficacy strongly depends on rock lithology, surfactant, and CNF type. Moreover, to evaluate further wettability alteration, stability of surfactant and CNF solution films on the shale rock surface is determined by zeta potential measurements. Surfactants and CNF show higher zeta potential magnitudes than water without additives, as an indication of better stability and water-wetness, which agrees with CA results. In addition, the effect of IFT alteration is studied in solutions with surfactants and CNF, and Bakken crude oil. Higher IFT reduction is achieved by anionic surfactants, but all surfactants and CNF perform better than water alone.Surfactants and CNF potential for improving oil recovery in ultralow permeability Bakken cores is investigated by spontaneous imbibition experiments using modified Amott cells in an environmental chamber. Using computed tomography (CT) scan methods, water imbibition as penetration magnitude is measured in real time. In addition, oil recovery is recorded with time to compare the performance of surfactants, CNF, and completion fluid alone. The results suggest that surfactants and CNF are better on recovering oil from shale core displacing more oil and having higher penetration magnitudes than water without additives. In addition, oil recovery depends on surfactant and CNF type and rock mineral composition. These findings are consistent with CA, zeta poten...

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Section: Contact Angle Experimentsmentioning

confidence: 57%

Section: Spontaneous Imbibition Experiments Monitored By Ct Scan Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Altering Wettability in Bakken Shale by Surfactant Additives and Potential of Improving Oil Recovery During Injection of Completion Fluids

Alvarez

Schechter

2016

SPE Improved Oil Recovery Conference

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“…The shale surface is usually hydrophilic, and capillary suction pressure is one of the driving forces for water molecules invading shale formations. 37,38 Reducing the surface tension of WDFs would effectively decrease the capillary pressure, resulting in a reduced intake of WDFs, thus weakening the shale hydration effect. The variation in surface tension as a function of PME concentration is shown in Fig.…”

Section: à8mentioning

confidence: 99%

A polymer microsphere emulsion as a high-performance shale stabilizer for water-based drilling fluids

Qiu

Zhao

et al. 2018

RSC Adv.

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Interest in using nanomaterials to improve shale stability during drilling operations has been increasing.Herein, a polymer microsphere emulsion (PME) as a high-performance shale stabilizer for water-based drilling fluids (WDFs) was prepared via emulsion polymerization. The particle sizes in PME in aqueous solution ranged from 90 to 320 nm. PME was found to exhibit excellent salt tolerance and temperature resistance. The plugging performance of PME was tested through pressure transmission tests. The results indicated that the polymer microspheres in PME could effectively plug shale pores and reduce shale permeability. In addition, rolling recovery tests were used to evaluate the shale hydration inhibition performance of PME. It was found that PME showed great performance for decreasing shale hydration potential. These factors make PME a promising shale stabilizer for WDFs used to drill shale formations.

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Application of Nano‐Polymer Emulsion for Inhibiting Shale Self‐Imbibition in Water‐Based Drilling Fluids

Qiu

Zhao

et al. 2018

J Surfact & Detergents

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In order to effectively solve shale instability problems in the drilling process, the remarkable capillary effect of shale formations cannot be ignored. In this paper, we report the development and characterization of a nanopolymer emulsion (SDPE) as a shale self-imbibition control agent in water-based drilling fluids. Spontaneous imbibition experiments, surface tension measurements, contact angle measurements, particle size distribution analysis, linear swelling tests, and hot-rolling cuttings dispersion tests were conducted to evaluate the comprehensive performance of SDPE. The results show that the water absorption of shale samples in SDPE emulsions is significantly less than in deionized water. At a concentration of 2.0%, the absorption mass decreased from 7.51 to 2.59%. Reducing the surface tension of the testing fluids, increasing the contact angle of the shale samples, and maintaining the nanoscale size were the important considerations for SDPE to greatly decrease the capillary effect. The low swelling rate and high recovery rate indicate that SDPE also exhibits strong shale hydration inhibition performance. Compared with waterbased drilling fluids without SDPE, drilling fluids with SDPE present higher yield point/plastic viscosity values, and also decrease the filtration loss. Based on our findings, SDPE has the potential to be a good shale self-imbibition control agent and to help mitigate the shale instability problems. KeywordsNano-polymer emulsion Á Water-based drilling fluid Á Shale formation Á Spontaneous imbibition Á Shale hydration inhibition J Surfact Deterg (2018) 21: 155-164. Clay mineral 15 --156 J Surfact Deterg J Surfact Deterg (2018) 21: 155-164 157 J Surfact Deterg J Surfact Deterg (2018) 21: 155-164

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Wettability Alteration and Spontaneous Imbibition in Unconventional Liquid Reservoirs by Surfactant Additives

Cited by 32 publications

References 1 publication

Altering Wettability in Bakken Shale by Surfactant Additives and Potential of Improving Oil Recovery During Injection of Completion Fluids

Altering Wettability in Bakken Shale by Surfactant Additives and Potential of Improving Oil Recovery During Injection of Completion Fluids

A polymer microsphere emulsion as a high-performance shale stabilizer for water-based drilling fluids

Application of Nano‐Polymer Emulsion for Inhibiting Shale Self‐Imbibition in Water‐Based Drilling Fluids

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