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Updated: Jun 16, 2026
12:18
Pore-scale Imaging and Characterization of Hydrocarbon Reservoir Rock Wettability at Subsurface Conditions Using X-ray Microtomography
Published on: October 21, 2018
Enhancing Water Flooding Oil Recovery by Regulating Rock Surface Under-Oil-Water Wettability
Kaiqin Xie1, Yinfeng Xu1, Hao Ren1
1College of Materials and Chemistry & Chemical Engineering, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu 610059, China.
ACS Omega
|June 15, 2026
Summary
Rock surface wettability under oil, not in air, dictates water flooding efficiency. Enhancing under-oil hydrophilicity boosts oil recovery and spontaneous imbibition, crucial for enhanced oil recovery methods.
Area of Science:
- Petroleum Engineering
- Surface Chemistry
- Enhanced Oil Recovery
Background:
- Traditional water flooding efficiency is linked to rock wettability (water-wet vs. oil-wet).
- Water flooding involves displacing oil from rock surfaces, altering oil-rock to water-rock interfaces.
- Under-oil-water wettability is critical for this interfacial change.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of under-oil-water wettability on water flooding and imbibition recovery.
- To demonstrate that under-oil wettability, not overall wettability, governs water flooding efficiency.
- To explore alkoxysilane modification for tuning rock surface wettability states.
Main Methods:
- Alkoxysilane modification to create three distinct under-oil wetting states (hydrophilic, neutral, hydrophobic).
- Simulated water flooding experiments on modified rock cores.
- Spontaneous imbibition tests on modified rock cores.
Main Results:
- Under-oil hydrophilic cores showed a 10.5% increase in oil recovery and a 1.4 MPa decrease in displacement pressure compared to untreated cores.
- Under-oil hydrophobic cores exhibited a 13.7% decrease in recovery and a 1.3 MPa increase in pressure.
- Under-oil hydrophilic cores achieved 34.02% imbibition recovery, while hydrophobic cores showed negligible recovery.
Conclusions:
- Under-oil-water wettability is the determining factor for water flooding and imbibition efficiency, not wettability in air.
- Enhancing under-oil hydrophilicity significantly improves oil recovery.
- Findings offer guidance for developing more effective water flooding strategies.
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