Nuclear magnetic resonance experiments on the time-varying law of oil viscosity and wettability in high-multiple waterflooding sandstone cores

A simulated oil viscosity prediction model is established according to the relationship between simulated oil viscosity and geometric mean value of T2spectrum,and the time-varying law of simulated oil viscosity in porous media is quantitatively characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance(NMR)experiments of high multiple waterflooding.A new NMR wettability index formula is derived based on NMR relaxation theory to quantitatively characterize the time-varying law of rock wettability during waterflooding combined with high-multiple waterflooding experiment in sandstone cores.The remaining oil viscosity in the core is positively correlated with the displacing water multiple.The remaining oil viscosity increases rapidly when the displacing water multiple is low,and increases slowly when the displacing water multiple is high.The variation of remaining oil viscosity is related to the reservoir heterogeneity.The stronger the reservoir homogeneity,the higher the content of heavy components in the remaining oil and the higher the viscosity.The reservoir wettability changes after water injection:the oil-wet reservoir changes into water-wet reservoir,while the water-wet reservoir becomes more hydrophilic;the degree of change enhances with the increase of displacing water multiple.There is a high correlation between the time-varying oil viscosity and the time-varying wettability,and the change of oil viscosity cannot be ignored.The NMR wettability index calculated by considering the change of oil viscosity is more consistent with the tested Amott(spontaneous imbibition)wettability index,which agrees more with the time-varying law of reservoir wettability.

Novel application of PEG/SDS interaction as a wettability modifier of hydrophobic carbonate surfaces

Wettability alteration of carbonate reservoirs from oil-wet to water-wet is an important method to increase the efficiency of oil recovery. Interaction between surfactants and polymers can enhance the effectiveness of surfactants in EOR applications. In this study, the interaction of polyethylene glycol(PEG) with an ionic surfactant, sodium dodecyl sulphate(SDS),is evaluated on an oil-wet carbonate rock surface by using contact angle measurements. The results reveal that wettability alteration of carbonate rocks is achieved through PEG/SDS interaction on the rock surface above a critical aggregation concentration(CAC). The behaviour of PEG/SDS aqueous solutions is evaluated using surface and interfacial tension measurements. Furthermore, the effect of PEG and SDS concentrations and impact of electrolyte addition on PEG/SDS interaction are investigated. It is shown that electrolyte(NaCl) can effectively decrease the CAC values and accordingly initiate the wettability alteration of rocks. Moreover, in a constant SDS concentration, the addition of NaCl leads to a reduction in the contact angle, which can also be obtained by increasing the aging time, temperature and pre-adsorption of PEG on the rock surface.

Modeling of multiphase flow in low permeability porous media:Effect of wettability and pore structure properties

Multiphase flow in low permeability porous media is involved in numerous energy and environmental applications.However,a complete description of this process is challenging due to the limited modeling scale and the effects of complex pore structures and wettability.To address this issue,based on the digital rock of low permeability sandstone,a direct numerical simulation is performed considering the interphase drag and boundary slip to clarify the microscopic water-oil displacement process.In addition,a dual-porosity pore network model(PNM)is constructed to obtain the water-oil relative permeability of the sample.The displacement efficiency as a recovery process is assessed under different wetting and pore structure properties.Results show that microscopic displacement mechanisms explain the corresponding macroscopic relative permeability.The injected water breaks through the outlet earlier with a large mass flow,while thick oil films exist in rough hydrophobic surfaces and poorly connected pores.The variation of water-oil relative permeability is significant,and residual oil saturation is high in the oil-wet system.The flooding is extensive,and the residual oil is trapped in complex pore networks for hydrophilic pore surfaces;thus,water relative permeability is lower in the water-wet system.While the displacement efficiency is the worst in mixed-wetting systems for poor water connectivity.Microporosity negatively correlates with invading oil volume fraction due to strong capillary resistance,and a large microporosity corresponds to low residual oil saturation.This work provides insights into the water-oil flow from different modeling perspectives and helps to optimize the development plan for enhanced recovery.

Enhancing Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution through Electronic Structure and Wettability Adjustment of ZnIn_(2)S_(4)/Bi_(2)O_(3) S-Scheme Heterojunction

The production of renewable fuels through water splitting via photocatalytic hydrogen production holds significant promise.Nonetheless,the sluggish kinetics of hydrogen evolution and the inadequate water adsorption on photocatalysts present notable challenges.In this study,we have devised a straightforward hydrothermal method to synthesize Bi_(2)O_(3)(BO)derived from metal‐organic frameworks(MOFs),loaded with flower-like ZnIn_(2)S_(4)(ZIS).This approach substantially enhances water adsorption and surface catalytic reactions,resulting in a remarkable enhancement of photocatalytic activity.By employing triethanolamine(TEOA)as a sacrificial agent,the hydrogen evolution rate achieved with 15%(mass fraction)ZIS loading on BO reached an impressive value of 1610μmol∙h^(−1)∙g^(−1),marking a 6.34-fold increase compared to that observed for bare BO.Furthermore,through density functional theory(DFT)and ab initio molecular dynamics(AIMD)calculations,we have identified the reactions occurring at the ZIS/BO S-scheme heterojunction interface,including the identification of active sites for water adsorption and catalytic reactions.This study provides valuable insights into the development of high-performance composite photocatalytic materials with tailored electronic properties and wettability.

Spatially engineering tri-layer nanofiber dressings featuring asymmetric wettability for wound healing

Inspired by the skin structure,an asymmetric wettability tri-layer nanofiber membrane(TNM)consisting of hydrophilic inner layer loaded with lidocaine hydrochloride(LID),hydrophobic middle layer with ciprofloxacin(CIP)and hydrophobic outer layer has been created.The hydrophobic outer layer endows the TNM with waterproof function and anti-adhesion from contaminants.The hydrophobic middle layer with CIP preserves long-term inhibition of bacteria growth and the hydrophilic inner layer with LID possesses optimal waterabsorbing capacity and air permeability.The TNM dramatically elevates the water contact angles from 10°(inner layer)to 120(outer layer),indicating an asymmetric wettability,which could directionally transport wound exudate within the materials and meanwhile maintain a comfortable and moist environment to promote wound healing.Furthermore,the sequential release of LID and CIP could relieve pain rapidly and achieve antibacterial effect in the long run,respectively.In addition,the TNM shows superior biocompatibility towards L929 cells.The in vivo results show the TNM could prevent infection,accelerate epithelial regeneration and significantly accelerate wound healing.This study indicates the developed TNM with asymmetrical wettability and synergetic drug release shows great potential as a wound dressing in clinical application.

Effect of microalloying on wettability and interface characteristics of Zr-based bulk metallic glasses with W substrate

The infiltration casting method is widely employed for the preparation of ex-situ composite materials.However,the production of composite materials using this method must necessitates a comprehensive understanding of the wettability and interface characteristics between the reinforcing phase and the bulk metallic glasses(BMGs).This work optimized the composition of Zr-based BMGs through microalloying methods,resulting in a new set of Zr-based BMGs with excellent glass-forming ability.Wetting experiments between the Zr-based BMGs melts and W substrates were conducted using the traditional sessile drop method,and the interfaces were characterized utilizing a scanning electron microscope(SEM)equipped with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy(EDS).The work demonstrates that the microalloying method substantially enhances the wettability of the Zr-based BMGs melt.Additionally,the incorporation of Nb element impedes the formation of W-Zr phases,but the introduction of Nb element does not alter the extent of interdiffusion between the constituent elements of the amorphous matrix and W element,indicating that the influence of Nb element on the diffusion of individual elements is minute.

Impact of surface roughness,surface charge,and temperature on sandstone wettability alteration by nanoparticles

The wettability of rocks affects the balance between capillary and viscous forces during multiphase flow through porous media,which in turn determines the fluid displacement process governing the recovery of oil from subsurface formations.In this work,the mechanism of wettability reversal of aged synthetic sandstones by metal oxide nanoparticles(SiO_(2) and Al_(2)O_(3))was investigated with particular focus on the impact of surface roughness,zeta potential,and temperature.The synthetic surfaces were prepared from powders of Berea sandstone with known grain size ranges and their average roughness and roughness ratio were obtained from the 3D surface reconstruction of their microscope images.Each surface was subsequently aged in Permian crude oil to alter its wettability.For surfaces with larger grain sizes and lower surface roughness ratios,the lower capillary pressure allowed stronger oil/surface interactions,leading to enhanced oil-wetness.The wettability alteration effects of nanoparticles were then examined through real-time top view imaging and dynamic front view contact angle experiments.The negatively charged SiO_(2) nanoparticles rapidly reversed the sandstone wettability,indicating their potential applicability as wettability alteration agents.By contrast,the positively charged Al_(2)O_(3) counterpart caused no wettability reversal.The mechanism of wettability alteration was further studied by microscale interaction analyses and nanoscale transmission electron microscopy.Because nanoparticles were only a few nanometers large,the microscale roughness had a negligible effect on the wettability reversal.Instead,the combined effect of van der Waals dispersion forces and surface-charge-induced electrostatic forces were recognized as the two key factors affecting the wettability of sandstone particles.Such interactions may be curbed at elevated temperatures due to a decrease in the zeta potential and colloidal stability of the particles.

Effect of different concentrations of surfactant on the wettability of coal by molecular dynamics simulation

Anionic surfactant sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate(SDBS)at varying concentrations was selected to investigate the influence on the wettability of Zhaozhuang Coal by molecular dynamics simulation.Six groups of water/surfactant/coal systems with different concentrations were constructed.The influence of surfactant with different concentrations on the wettability of coal was concluded by analyzing various properties from the energetic behaviors to the dynamic characteristics.The results show that the interfacial tension decreases sharply and then rises slowly with the increase of SDBS surfactant concentration,obtaining that surfactants can obviously reduce the interfacial tension.The surfactant molecules could be detected at the water/coal interface through analyzing the system’s relative concentration distribution.In addition,the difference in the wettability of surfactants on coal surfaces is caused by the spatial distribution differences of alkyl chains and the benzene ring of the surfactant molecules.And the negative interaction energy between SDBS and the coal surface indicates that adsorption process is spontaneous.Furthermore,it is of great practical significance for improving the dust reduction effect and reducing the disaster of coal dust by exploring the effects of surfactant molecules on the wettability of coal.

Study on Quantitative Relationship between Surface Wettability and Frictional Coefficient of Liquid Flowing in a Turbulent Horizontal Pipe

This paper had investigated the effects of surface wettability on the frictional resistance of turbulent horizontal flow for tap water in five pipes made of various materials and four kinds of liquids in a polytetrafluoroethylene(PTFE) pipe,with the same inner diameter of 14 mm. Pressure drops were measured under different flow rates through an experimental flow loop. The contact angles and adhesion work of liquids in contact with pipe surfaces were determined using a contact angle meter. Based on the dimension and regression analyses, two kinds of modified relationships between the frictional coefficient and the surface wettability were established according to the measured results corresponding to tap water in five pipes and four liquids in PTFE pipe. The experimental results show that the surface wettability has some influence on frictional coefficient of the studied liquids flowing in macroscale pipes, and the frictional coefficient decreases with the increase of the contact angle at the same Reynolds number. Meanwhile the effect of wettability on the hydrophobic surface is greater than that on the hydrophilic one. The frictional coefficients predicted by the modified formulas have verified to be in good agreement with the experimental values, the relative errors of which are within ±6% and ±3% for the tap water flowing in five different pipes and four kinds of liquids flowing in PTFE pipe, respectively.

CO_(2) gas stripped off membranous residual oil from pore surfaces: Effects of temperature, pressure and wettability

The threshold values of CO_(2) gas stripped off membranous residual oil from the pore walls are not clear under different temperatures, pressures and wettability conditions. The extent to which temperature, pressure and wettability influence CO_(2) flooding for enhancing the recovery of residual oil in membranous formations also remains uncertain. Therefore, further quantitative characterization is entailed. In this study, the molecular dynamics method was employed to explore CO_(2) flooding under different temperatures, pressures and wettability conditions, aiming to enhance the production of membranous residual oil. The results reveal that the interaction energy between CO_(2), decane molecules and pore walls exhibits a decrease with increasing temperature and an increase with increasing pressure, respectively, in distinct wettability scenarios. When the temperature was at or below 363 K and the pressure was not lower than 40 MPa, CO_(2) gas could detach the membranous residual oil from the pore walls in the water-wet systems. When the temperature was equal to 363 K and the pressure remained under 40 MPa, or the temperature surpassed 363 K, CO_(2) gas failed to detach the membranous residual oil from the pore walls in the water-wet systems. For the mixed-wet and oil-wet systems, CO_(2) molecules could not detach the membranous residual oil from the pore walls. The hierarchy of influence regarding temperature, pressure and wettability on the competitive adsorption capacity of CO_(2) and decane molecules on the pore walls emerged as follows: wettability > temperature > pressure. The findings of this study offer valuable insights into the application of CO_(2) gas flooding for the exploitation of membranous residual oil on pore walls.

Surface wettability control of reservoir rocks by brine

Based on adhesion models between rock surface groups and organic molecules,the interactions between the chemical groups on the rock surface and the components of crude oil and the interactions of the electrical double layers at the rock surface and oil-water interface were analyzed to investigate the abilities and microscopic mechanisms of wettability control by H^+,OH^- and inorganic salt ions in brine,and a new method of wettability control for reservoir rocks was built.The results show that the interaction forces between rock surface groups and oil molecules are van der Waals forces,Coulomb forces,hydrogen bonds,and surface forces.By changing these forces,the control mechanisms of surface wettability of reservoir rocks by brine are:transformation of chemical groups,change of interfacial potential,pH variation of injected water,multicomponent ionic exchange,and salting-in or salting-out effect.For sandstone reservoirs,with the decrease of concentration and valence state of positive ions in brine or the increase of pH(increasing pH has a negligible impact on the brine salinity),the interaction between rock surface and oil becomes weak,thus resulting in increase of water wettability of rock surface.For carbonate reservoirs,CaSO_4 or MgSO_4 brine with high concentration is beneficial to increase water wettability of rock surface.Therefore,it is feasible to control rock wettability and improve oil recovery by adjusting the ion components of injected water.

Effects of channel wall wettability on gas-liquid dynamics mass transfer under Taylor flow in a serpentine microchannel

The wall wettability of microchannels plays an important role in the gas-liquid mass transfer dynamics under Taylor flow.In this study,we regulated the contact angle of the wall surface through surface chemical grafting polymerization under controlled experimental conditions.The dynamic changes of CO_(2)bubbles flowing along the microchannel were captured by a high-speed video camera mounted on a stereo microscope,whilst a unit cell model was employed to theoretically investigate the gas-liquid mass transfer dynamics.We quantitatively characterized the effects of wall wettability,specifically the contact angle,on the formation mechanism of gas bubbles and mass transfer process experimentally.The results revealed that the gas bubble velocity,the overall volumetric liquid phase mass transfer coefficients(kLa),and the specific interfacial area(a)all increased with the increase of the contact angle.Conversely,gas bubble length and leakage flow decreased.Furthermore,we proposed a new modified model to predict the gas-liquid two-phase mass transfer performance,based on van Baten’s and Yao’s models.Our proposed model was observed to agree reasonably well with experimental observations.

Molecular design and applications of a nanostructure green Tripodal surface active ionic liquid in enhanced oil recovery: Interfacial tension reduction, wettability alteration, and emulsification

Surface active ionic liquids (SAILs) are considered as prominent materials in enhanced oil recovery thanks to their high interfacial activity. This study reports the preparation and applications of a nanostructure Tripodal imidazolium SAIL as an environmentally-friendly substitute to the conventional surfactants. The product has a star-like molecular structure centered by a triazine spacer, namely [(C_(4)im)_(3)TA][Cl_(3)], prepared by a one-step synthesis method and characterized with FT-IR, NMR, XRD, and SEM analysis methods. The interfacial tension of the system was decreased to about 78% at critical micelle concentration of less than 0.08 mol·dm^(−3). Increasing temperature, from 298.2 to 323.2 K, improved this capability. The solid surface wettability was changed from oil-wet to water-wet and 80% and 77% stable emulsions of crude oil–aqueous solutions were created after one day and one week, respectively. Compared to the Gemini kind homologous SAILs, the superior effects of the Tripodal SAIL were revealed and attributed to the strong hydrophobic branches in the molecule. The Frumkin adsorption isotherm precisely reproduced the generated IFT data, and accordingly, the adsorption and thermodynamic parameters were determined.

Evaluation of the coupled impact of silicon oxide nanoparticles and low-salinity water on the wettability alteration of Berea sandstones

This study investigated experimentally the coupled effects of hydrophilic SiO_(2) nanoparticles(NPs)and low-salinity water(LSW)on the wettability of synthetic clay-free Berea sandstone.Capillary pressure,interfacial tension(IFT),contact angle,Zeta potential,and dynamic displacement measurements were performed at various NP mass fractions and brine salinities.The U.S.Bureau of Mines(USBM)index was used to quantify the wettability alteration.Furthermore,the NP stability and retention and the effect of enhanced oil recovery by nanofluid were examined.The results showed that LSW immiscible displacement with NPs altered the wettability toward more water wet.With the decreasing brine salinity and increasing NP mass fraction,the IFT and contact angle decreased.The wettability alteration intensified most as the brine salinity decreased to 4000 mg/L and the NP mass fraction increased to 0.075%.Under these conditions,the resulting incremental oil recovery factor was approximately 13 percentage points.When the brine salinity was 4000 mg/L and the NP mass fraction was 0.025%,the retention of NPs caused the minimum damage to permeability.

Dipolar NMR relaxation of adsorbates on surfaces of controlled wettability

In reservoir rocks,the term“ageing”refers to extended exposition to crude oil;a typically water-wet sandstone will then gradually become oil-wet as a consequence of the deposition of insoluble fractions of oil onto the surface grains.Rocks have been aged artificially by subjecting them to a bitumen solution at elevated temperature in order to achieve comparable surface properties for three different types of rock:Bentheimer,Berea Buff and Liege Chalk.Using saturated and aromatic model compounds as proxies for crude oil,the nuclear magnetic resonance(NMR)relaxation dispersion in native and aged rocks was compared and correlated to the properties of paramagnetic impurities in these rock types.Perfluorated liquids were found to follow the same trend as deuterated and naturally occurring oil components,suggesting they can be used as suitable tracers for wettability studies since the ^(19)F nucleus is absent in natural sources.By combining electron paramagnetic resonance(EPR)and dynamic nuclear polarization(DNP)it becomes possible to identify and quantify the origin of the dominating relaxation processes between native and aged rocks,providing an alternative approach to assess wettability in natural rocks.

Anisotropic surface broken bond properties and wettability of calcite and fluorite crystals

Anisotropic surface broken bond densities of six different surfaces of calcite and three surfaces of fluorite were calculated. In terms of the calculated results, the commonly exposed surfaces of the two minerals were predicted and the relations between surface broken bonds densities and surface energies were analyzed. Then the anisotropic wettability of the commonly exposed surfaces was studied by means of contact angle measurement. The calculation results show that the （101^-4）, （213^-4）and （01 1^-8）surfaces for calcite and （111） for fluorite are the most commonly exposed surfaces and there is a good rectilinear relation between surface broken bond density and surface energy with correlation of determination （R^2） of 0.9613 and 0.9969, respectively. The anisotropic wettability of different surfaces after immersing in distilled water and sodium oleate solutions at different concentrations can be explained by anisotropic surface broken bond densities and active Ca sites densities, respectively.

Enhancement of surface wettability via micro-and nanostructures by single point diamond turning

Studies on surface wettability have received tremendous interest due to their potential applications in research and industrial processes. One of the strategies to tune surface wettability is modifying surface topography at micro-and nanoscales. In this research, periodic micro-and nanostructures were patterned on several polymer surfaces by ultra-precision single point diamond turning to investigate the relationships between surface topographies at the micro-and nanoscales and their surface wettability. This research revealed that single-point diamond turning could be used to enhance the wettability of a variety of polymers, including polyvinyl chloride(PVC), polyethylene 1000(PE1000), polypropylene copolymer(PP) and polytetrafluoroethylene(PFTE), which cannot be processed by conventional semiconductor-based manufacturing processes. Materials exhibiting common wettability properties(θ≈ 90°) changed to exhibit "superhydrophobic" behavior(θ > 150°). Compared with the size of the structures, the aspect ratio of the void space between micro-and nanostructures has a strong impact on surface wettability.

Dominant role of wettability in improving the specific capacitance

Here we report a strategy to enhance the energy density of supercapacitors by increasing the utilization rate of the specific surface area(SSA)via wettability improvement. The nonporous gold(NPG) film is used as the electrodes and the ionic liquid [EMIM]BF4 is the electrolyte. When the electrode is coated by paraffin, an increase of the contact angle leads to a remarkable reduction of the specific capacitance. While when acetonitrile is added into the electrolyte, the contact angle is decreased and the utilization rate of SSA is improved, which results in an increase of the specific capacitance. The addition of isopropyl acetate into the electrolyte leads to a further increase of the specific capacitance. To generalize the role of the wettability in improving the energy density, a carbon-based electrode is evaluated in the solution of potassium hydroxide. An addition of propyl alcohol into the potassium hydroxide solution leads to an increase of the specific capacitance, as well as a long-term stability of the supercapacitor. The role of conductivity in this study is excluded by designing experiments. This paper highlights the significance of wettability in determining the specific capacitance, showing an alternative to improve the energy density of supercapacitors.

Quantitatively probing interactions between membrane with adaptable wettability and oil phase in oil/water separation

The membrane method based on adaptive wettability shows great advantages in oil-water separation.At present,researches focus on the excellent application performance of the membrane material,while the quantitative analysis of interactions in oil-water separation is rarely recognized.Herein,we constructed an adaptable wettability membrane with multiple polymer networks by polydopamine(PDA)and mussel-inspired amphiphilic polymer.Based on the Owens three-probe liquid method,the surface energy of the modified membrane was verified to meet the adaptive wettability conditions,with surface energies(γ-8)of 147.6 mJ m^(−2)(superhydrophilic/underwater superoleophobic)and 49.87 mJ m^(−2)(superhydrophobic/superoleophobic),respectively.The adhesion or repulsion of the membrane to the oil phase under different conditions during the separation process was quantified by the chemical probe AFM technique.In addition,the oil-water selective separation mechanism was further analyzed in a simplified membrane microchannel model.The results show that the different wetting produces capillary additional pressure in opposite directions,resulting in different energies to be overcome when the oil or water passes through the microchannels,thus achieving selective separation.

Leaf Wettability Difference Among Tea Leaf Ages and Analysis Based on Microscopic Surface Features

The wettability of leaf surface,commonly represented by contact angle(CA),affects various physiological and physical processes.The present study aims to better understand the wettability of tea leaves and elucidate its influence on the energy barrier of the droplet condensation process.The CA values of different leaf ages(young,mature and old)of five famous tea cultivars(Maolu,longjing 43,Huangjinya,Zhongcha 108 and Anji Baicha)were measured via the sessile drop method,and the micro-morphology of two cultivars leaves(Maolu,Zhongcha 108)was investigated by a 3D super depth-of-field digital microscope.Specifically,two radically distinctive types of CA trends were observed,one was the decreased firstly and then increased slightly with the increase of leaf age,while the other stayed constant.The valley depth or maximum height(RZ)of Maolu leaf surface increased with the leaf age while the RZ of Zhongcha 108 leaf remained unchanged by comparing the microscopic features.The Maolu mature leaf CA decline attributed to the young leaf was hydrophilic(θ<90°),and it was considered that surface structures like folds and pits on old leaf played a crucial role in making CA increased.Small deviation in CA can lead to significant error in calculation of the contact angle function of energy barrier in phase change.It will have great significant for simulating and better understanding the formation of frost on tea leaves.