Wettability Determination and Its Effect on Recovery Efficiency

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Abstract
A quantitative method for measuring the wettability of porous media containing brine and crude oil has been developed by the USBM using capillary pressure curves determined with a centrifuge. These measurements were reproducible within a standard deviation of 8.2 percent. The determination of fractional wettability has been compared with a method involving a combination of imbibition and displacement. Results are in agreement qualitatively as to whether a sample was water-wet or oil-wet. When tested with outcrop cores of Torpedo Sandstone, wetting tendencies of oils from widely different fields range from highly water-wet to almost neutral. Silicone-treated cores vary in extent of wettability in a predictable manner, becoming more oil-wet as the concentration of silicone used in core preparation is increased. Wettability, used as a parameter in designing linear mathematical models for predicting recovery efficiency, is equal in significance to viscosity and permeability. Introduction: Wettability is one of the major factors that influences oil recovery. The importance of maintaining a water-wet condition in a field under water drive has been discussed by many authors. These authors have shown that oil recovery, as a function of the water injected, is greater from water-wet cores than from oil-wet cores. A few authors have indicated that recovery from strongly water-wet or oil-wet cores is less than recovery from cores that are at some intermediate wettability. One reason that the significance of wettability to oil recovery is still being evaluated is because a quantitative measurement of wettability has not been available when crude oil is involved.

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