Wettability characterization of low-permeability reservoirs using nuclear magnetic resonance: An experimental study

Liang, Can; Xiao, Lizhi; Zhou, Cancan; Wang, Hua; Hu, Fengxia; Liao, Guangzhi; Jia, Zijian; Liu, Huabing

doi:10.1016/j.petrol.2019.03.014

Cited by 27 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…The mineral composition has a significant effect on shale wettability. 10 As shown in Figure 1 , the main minerals identified within the raw Wenjiaba shale sample are quartz, feldspar, illite, kaolinite, and pyrite. 1 , 38 The identification of minerals through X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectrograms substantiates the fact that the Wenjiaba shale samples have a high level of heterogeneity.…”

Section: Results and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Generally, the wettability of shale is divided into three states: (1) water-wet, (2) mixed-wet, and (3) oil-wet . The shale gas recovery efficiency is affected by the relative permeability and capillary pressure, which are strongly dependent on the shale wettability. − Thus, the wettability of shale reservoirs has received considerable attention. Methods such as Amott and the United States Bureau of Mines (USBM) wettability index have been used to characterize the wettability of conventional natural gas formations .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Experimental Study of the Wettability Characteristic of Thermally Treated Shale

Yang

Gu²,

Chen

et al. 2020

ACS Omega

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Extraction of shale gas from shale reservoirs is significantly affected by shale wettability. Recently, thermal recovery technologies (e.g., combustion) have been tested for shale gas recovery. This requires an understanding of the wettability change mechanism for thermally treated shale samples. In this study, the effect of combustion on shale wettability was investigated. Shale samples were first processed to obtain smooth surfaces and then combusted at temperatures of 200, 400, and 800 °C. The initial contact angles and dynamic behavior of water droplets on shale surfaces were recorded using the sessile drop method. It was found that pores and fractures were generated on the shale surfaces following high-temperature combustion. The pore volume and diameter increased with increasing combustion temperature, which improved the connectivity of hydrophilic pore networks. Compared to a raw shale sample, the shale sample combusted at 400 °C showed a smaller initial water contact angle and a more rapid decrease in the contact angle because of the oxidation of organic matter and generation of pore structures. Water droplets were found to completely spread over the surface of the shale sample combusted at 800 °C because of the generation of fractures. Moreover, the van der Waals potential between water droplets and combusted shale samples was determined to be stronger. However, the initial contact angle and dynamic behavior of water droplets did not show a significant change for the shale sample combusted at 200 °C. As a result, high-temperature combustion (≥400 °C) can be used to significantly improve the hydrophilicity of shale.

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Section: Results and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental Study of the Wettability Characteristic of Thermally Treated Shale

Yang

Gu²,

Chen

et al. 2020

ACS Omega

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“…T 2 -D NMR measurements also produced excellent wettability predictions (Flaum et al 2005;Liang et al 2019;Minh et al 2015). The main advantage for T 2 -D technique is that the fluids separation is improved significantly compared to that when using T 2 relaxation approach alone.…”

Section: Wettabilitymentioning

confidence: 98%

A review on the applications of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) in the oil and gas industry: laboratory and field-scale measurements

Elsayed

Isah

Hiba

et al. 2022

J Petrol Explor Prod Technol

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This review presents the latest update, applications, techniques of the NMR tools in both laboratory and field scales in the oil and gas upstream industry. The applications of NMR in the laboratory scale were thoroughly reviewed and summarized such as porosity, pores size distribution, permeability, saturations, capillary pressure, and wettability. NMR is an emerging tool to evaluate the improved oil recovery techniques, and it was found to be better than the current techniques used for screening, evaluation, and assessment. For example, NMR can define the recovery of oil/gas from the different pore systems in the rocks compared to other macroscopic techniques that only assess the bulk recovery. This manuscript included different applications for the NMR in enhanced oil recovery research. Also, NMR can be used to evaluate the damage potential of drilling, completion, and production fluids laboratory and field scales. Currently, NMR is used to evaluate the emulsion droplet size and its behavior in the pore space in different applications such as enhanced oil recovery, drilling, completion, etc. NMR tools in the laboratory and field scales can be used to assess the unconventional gas resources and NMR showed a very good potential for exploration and production advancement in unconventional gas fields compared to other tools. Field applications of NMR during exploration and drilling such as logging while drilling, geosteering, etc., were reviewed as well. Finally, the future and potential research directions of NMR tools were introduced which include the application of multi-dimensional NMR and the enhancement of the signal-to-noise ratio of the collected data during the logging while drilling operations.

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“…Production from these formations is controlled by pressure, mineralogy, wettability, and operational strategy, with these factors, intertwined (Mohammed et al, 2021b). The formation wettability is a major factor that controls fluid production and distribution (Celik and Somasundaran, 1980;Kim et al, 1990;Standnes and Austad, 2003;Sayyad Amin et al, 2010;Darabi et al, 2012;Shiran and Skauge, 2012;Liang et al, 2019;Rezaei et al, 2021). It is affected by several factors, one of which is the formation mineralogy.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigation of Surface Charge at the Mineral/Brine Interface: Implications for Wettability Alteration

et al. 2022

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The reservoir rock ismade up of differentminerals which contribute to the overall formation wettability. These minerals in their natural state differ in chemistry and structure, and thus behave differently in an environment of varying composition and salinity. These have direct implications for enhanced oil recovery due to water flooding, or wettability alteration due to long-term exposure to brine. With the reservoir rock being a complex system of multiple minerals, the control of wettability alterations becomes difficult to manage. One of the dominant mechanisms responsible for wettability alteration is the mineral surface charge, which is dependent on pH, and fluid composition (salt type and salinity). For the first time, the surface charge development of barite, dolomite, and feldspar minerals in their native reservoir environments (accounting for the formation brine complexity) is presented. Also, the effect of oilfield operations (induced pH change) on minerals’ surface charge development is studied. This was achieved by using the zeta potential measurements. The zeta potential results show that barite and dolomite minerals possess positively charge surfaces in formation water and seawater, with feldspar having a near-zero surface charge. Furthermore, the surface charge development is controlled by the H+/OH− (pH), electrical double-layer effect, as well as ion adsorption on the mineral’s surfaces. These findings provide key insights into the role of fluid environment (pH, composition) and oilfield operations on mineral surface charge development. In addition, the results show that careful tuning of pH with seawater injection could serve as an operational strategy to control the mineral surface charge. This is important as negatively charged surfaces negate wettability alteration due to polar crude oil components. Also, the design of an ion-engineered fluid to control the surface charge of minerals was implemented, and the results show that reduction in the Ca2+ concentration holds the key to the surface charge modifications. Surface charge modifications as evidenced in this study play a critical role in the control of wettability alteration to enhance production.

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Wettability characterization of low-permeability reservoirs using nuclear magnetic resonance: An experimental study

Cited by 27 publications

References 28 publications

Experimental Study of the Wettability Characteristic of Thermally Treated Shale

Experimental Study of the Wettability Characteristic of Thermally Treated Shale

A review on the applications of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) in the oil and gas industry: laboratory and field-scale measurements

Investigation of Surface Charge at the Mineral/Brine Interface: Implications for Wettability Alteration

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