Visualization of the Effect of Porous Media Wettability on Polymer Flooding Performance through Unconsolidated Porous Media using Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Water flooding effectiveness depends on the mobility ratio of the injected water to displaced fluids, and on the geologic heterogeneity of the reservoir rock. Rock wettability also affects the performance of water and polymer flooding. It is generally recognized that water flooding in a water-wet reservoir is more efficient than water flooding in an oil-wet reservoir. Polymer absorption/retention in porous media is also affected by rock wettability. The Centric Scan SPRITE Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) technique is applied in this work to visualize the performance of polymer flooding and to quantify in situ fluid saturation distribution in rocks with wettability ranging from strongly water-wet to preferentially oil-wet.