Title: Effect of Brine Salinity on Reservoir Fluids Interfacial Tension
Abstract: Abstract Water flooding has been used for many decades as a way of recovering more oil. Historically, the salinity of the injection water has not been regarded as a key variable in determining the amount of oil recovered. Crude oil/water/rock chemical interactions can lead to large variations in the microscopic displacement efficiency of water flood. There is increasing evidence, as reported in the literature, that injecting low salinity brines has a significant impact on the amount of oil displaced, but the exact mechanism by which this occurs is an unsettled issue. The main objective of this paper is to determine the effects, advantages, and practicalities of using low salinity water flood to displace more oil in both carbonates and clastics formations. Another objective is to understand the main mechanisms in low salinity waterflood, and to determine the effects of salinity level on oil recovery. In the present study, we measured the interfacial properties between oil n-dodecane and brines with various salt contents. The interfacial tension between oil and brines was measured using the Pendant Drop Apparatus. The effects of salinity, temperature, pressure and aging were examined in details. The results obtained indicated that there is a critical salt concentration where the interfacial tension between brine and oil is low. We believe that this salt concentration will enhance oil recovery, and therefore, should be considered when designing water floods. Aging time has a significant effect on the interfacial properties and it depends on the temperature and pressure conditions. Interfacial tension decreased linearly with temperature.
Publication Year: 2009
Publication Date: 2009-06-08
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 68
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