Analysis of the bounded and unbounded forms of USBM wettability index

Abstract

Understanding wettability is important in many processes where porous media and fluids are in contact. The U.S. Bureau of Mines (USBM) is one of the industry standard techniques for measuring wettability. This index is calculated as USBM=lg(A1A2), where A1 and A2 are the areas under capillary pressure curves of oil-drive and water-drive processes, respectively. Usually, the USBM is mistakenly assumed to vary over the range of −1 to 1 and compared with other indices. In this study we indicate that the lower and upper bounds of this index are not fully known in practice. As a result, comparison between USBM and other indices may cause erroneous interpretations due to dissimilar ranges of variation. In addition, even during examining the USBM of a sample it may not be possible to accurately interpret its wettability. We highlight the bounded form of the USBM index (denoted as USBM∗=A1−A2A1+A2), which varies over the range of −1 to 1, and suggest that it should replace the traditional form of USBM index. Twenty limestone core-plugs were collected from Asmari and Fahlian formations in two Iranian fields. These samples were used for performing primary imbibition relative permeability measurements, as well as primary imbibition and secondary drainage capillary pressure tests. These experiments are used to show the differences between USBM and USBM∗ in comparative studies and compare them against other indices of Amott-Harvey, Lak and modified Lak.