Understanding the role of brine ionic composition on oil recovery by assessment of wettability from colloidal forces

The impact of injection brine salinity and ionic composition on oil recovery has been an active area of research for the past 25 years. Evidence from laboratory studies and field tests suggests that implementing certain modifications to the ionic composition of the injection brine leads to greater oil recovery. The role of salinity modification is attributed to its ability to shift wettability of a rock surface toward water wetness. The amount of trapped oil released depends on the nature of rock, oil, and brine surface interactions. Reservoir rocks exhibit different affinities to fluids. Carbonates show stronger adsorption of oil films as opposed to the strongly water:wet and mixed wet sandstones. The concentration of divalent ions and total salinity of the injection brine are other important factors to consider. Accordingly, this paper provides a review of laboratory and field studies of the role of brine composition on oil recovery from carbonaceous rock as well as rationalization of results using DLVO (Derjaguin, Landau, Verwey and Overbeek) theory of surface forces. DLVO evaluates the contribution of each component of the oil/brine/rock system to the wettability. Measuring zeta potential of each pair of surfaces by a charged particle suspension method is used to estimate double layer forces, disjoining pressure, and contact-angle. We demonstrate the applicability of the DLVO approach by showing a comprehensive experimental study that investigates the effect of divalent ions in carbonates, and uses disjoining pressure results to rationalize observations from core flooding and direct contact-angle measurements. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.