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Coreflooding Studies to Evaluate the Impact of Salinity and Wettability on Oil Recovery Efficiency

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Abstract

In this work, coreflood studies were carried out to determine the recovery benefits of low salinity waterflood compared to high salinity waterflood and the role of wettability in any observed recovery benefit. Two sets of coreflood experiments were conducted; the first set examined the EOR potential of low salinity floods in tertiary oil recovery processes, while the second set of experiments examined the secondary oil recovery potential of low salinity floods. Changes in residual oil saturation with variation in wettability, brine salinity and temperature were monitored. All the coreflood tests gave consistent increase in produced oil, corresponding to reduction in residual oil saturation and increase in water-wetness (for the second set of experiments) with decrease in brine salinity and increase in brine temperature.

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Author notes

  1. Chinedu C. Agbalaka

    Present address: University of Oklahoma, Norman, USA

  2. James R. Hemsath

    Present address: Alaska Energy Authority, 813 West Northern Lights Boulevard, Anchorage, AK, 99503, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Petroleum Engineering, University of Alaska Fairbanks, 425 Duckering Building, Fairbanks, AK, 99775-5880, USA

    Chinedu C. Agbalaka, Abhijit Y. Dandekar, Shirish L. Patil & Santanu Khataniar

  2. Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory, Arctic Energy Office, Fairbanks, AK, USA

    James R. Hemsath

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  1. Chinedu C. Agbalaka
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  2. Abhijit Y. Dandekar
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  4. Santanu Khataniar
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Correspondence to Abhijit Y. Dandekar.

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Agbalaka, C.C., Dandekar, A.Y., Patil, S.L. et al. Coreflooding Studies to Evaluate the Impact of Salinity and Wettability on Oil Recovery Efficiency. Transp Porous Med 76, 77–94 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11242-008-9235-7

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