Visual Investigation of Oil Recovery by Low Salinity Water Injection: Formation of Water Micro-Dispersions and Wettability Alteration

Abstract

Abstract Low salinity waterflood (LSW) is a relatively new enhanced oil recovery (EOR) technique which has been reported to improve oil recovery in several laboratory experiments and some field trials. The general assumption among researchers is that LSW shifts wettability towards a more favourable state for oil recovery. Several hypotheses have been introduced in the literature as possible mechanisms involved in oil recovery by LSW e.g. fine migration and flow diversion, multi-component ion exchange (MIE), and rise in pH. However, a consistent theory to explain the process of wettability modification has not yet emerged. This paper presents the results of a comprehensive set of direct visualization (micromodel) experiments which investigate the low salinity effect (LSE) from a novel perspective. The visualization study, using reservoir-condition micromodels, shows that when low salinity brine comes in contact with certain crude oils, a large number of water micro-dispersions form at the oil/water interface within the oil phase. The formation and precipitation of these micro-dispersions can only be seen under high magnifications using our imaging system specifically designed for thin micromodels. The water micro-dispersions do not form when the oil is in contact with a high salinity brine and when they form due to low salinity of the brine, they coalescence as soon as the oil comes in contact with a high salinity brine. In our micromodel tests, when a mixed-wet micromodel and high salinity connate water were utilized, the formation of these micro-dispersions was associated with a slight change in the wettability and redistribution of fluids. We hypothesize that formation of the micro-dispersions results in additional oil recovery through two separate mechanisms; (1) depletion of the oil/water interface from natural surface active materials, resulting in wettability alteration and, (2) swelling of droplets of high salinity connate water. The results of this study introduce water/oil interactions and formation of water micro-dispersions as a potential mechanism for wettability alteration and improved oil recovery in low salinity water injection.