A predictive model for the wettability of chalk

• Published in: SN applied sciences Vol. 2; no. 10; pp. 1644 - 12
• Main Authors: Nourani, Meysam, Hemmingsen Schovsbo, Niels, Jahanbani Ghahfarokhi, Ashkan, Møller Nielsen, Carsten, Sigalas, Lykourgos, Meyer, Aurelien Gabriel, Olsen, Dan, Stemmerik, Lars
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01-10-2020; Springer Nature B.V; Springer
• Subjects: Aging time; Applied and Technical Physics; Capillary pressure; Chalk; Chemistry/Food Science; Contact angle; Cost analysis; Displacement temperature; Earth Sciences; Engineering; Engineering: Renewable and Non-Renewable Energy Resources: Challenges; Environment; Fluids; Materials Science; Mathematical models; Mineralogy; Oil and gas fields; Oil fields; Oil recovery; Opportunities and Future Trends; Outcrops; Permeability; Porosity; Prediction models; Research Article; Water depth; Water flooding; Wettability; Wettability; Aging time; Chalk; Porosity; Displacement temperature
• ISSN: 2523-3963; 2523-3971
• DOI: 10.1007/s42452-020-03438-y

Wettability is usually measured in special core analyses of limited plug samples according to typically costly and time-consuming procedures. For comparative purposes, wettability is considered an index. The two most frequently used wettability indices are the Amott–Harvey wettability index and the U.S. Bureau of Mines (USBM) index. The Amott–Harvey wettability index is linked to imbibition characteristics and the USBM index is associated with the area under capillary pressure curves. To provide a fast analytical method, a mathematical model for predicting the wettability of chalk is presented. The model is calibrated using experimental wettability data and subsequently applied to two wells in Danish chalk oil fields in the North Sea and to outcrop chalk samples. The model supplements traditional labor-intensive laboratory measurements and predicts water wettability variations with depth by modeling both depth and porosity dependencies; in addition, it provides estimates of the effects of the aging time and displacement temperature of chalk wettability measurements in the laboratory.