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Modeling Wettability Alteration in Low Salinity Water Flooding
- Publisher: European Association of Geoscientists & Engineers
- Source: Conference Proceedings, 81st EAGE Conference and Exhibition 2019, Jun 2019, Volume 2019, p.1 - 5
Abstract
The mechanisms of Low Salinity Water Flooding (LSWF), as a cost-effective technique for improved oil recovery, have been investigated during the last years. Although the mechanisms are still subject of research, wettability alteration from oil wet to water wet as a result of multi-component ion exchange (MIE) is considered as a feasible mechanism. Modeling wettability alteration is a challenging task due to the complex interactions among ions in the injected brine and crude oil on the solid surface. Effect of geochemical reactions on the performance of LSWF was previously investigated using numerical models with parameters identical to those used in the experiments considering aqueous reactions, ion exchange, and mineral dissolution and precipitation. The approach was used in this study to further address the modeling of LSWF performance at field scale. Injections are performed in secondary and tertiary modes, to predict oil recovery in a variety of conditions. Simulation results show that transport of the phases is related to the desorption of the divalent ions from the clay surface. The release of cations and hence oil recovery depend on several factors like connate water and brine compositions, and clay content.