The development of a regime-based framework for the analysis of wettability experiments

S. R. McDougall, A. B. Dixit, K. S. Sorbie

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This paper examines the macroscopic consequences of wettability variations at the pore-scale. Important theoretical issues relating to distributed contact angles are examined and a process simulator capable of simulating the full flooding cycle characteristic of laboratory wettability tests is described. Simulations predict that final waterflood recoveries from weakly water-wet, or even weakly oil-wet, systems can often exceed those from strongly water-wet systems even though initial imbibition rates may lead to the opposite conclusion. The underlying pore level physics has been explored by defining a capillarity surface which incorporates the combined effects of both contact angle and pore dimension during the imbibition process. Finally, a regime-based framework has been developed which can be used to reconcile apparently contradictory wettability experiments.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)206-219
Number of pages14
JournalChemical Engineering Research and Design
Volume74
Issue number2
Publication statusPublished - 1996

Keywords

  • Capillarity
  • Network model
  • Pore-scale
  • Wettability

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