Wettability Alteration and Its Effects on Production in Water Flooding

Abstract

The experiments validate that the wettability of reservoir rocks changes from weak water wetness to strong water wetness during secondary oil recovery. The relative permeabilities of the oil and water show that the increase in water wetness results in an obvious decrease in the water permeability. A numerical simulator considering wettability alteration was developed to predict oil production. The simulation indicates the wettability alteration during water flooding has strong effects on the water cut and oil recovery. It is found that the increase in water wetness during water flooding leads to a higher oil recovery and less accumulated production water at a water cut.

Keywords:

• mathematical model
• oil recovery
• percolation
• wettability alteration
• water flooding

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