Abstract
The original water wetting of reservoir minerals can be altered by the adsorption of polar compounds or the deposition of organic agents. These agents have both hydrophilic and hydrophobic ends. The hydrophilic ends are adsorbed on the surface, exposing the hydrophobic ends, which leads to oil-wet behavior. Wettability is defined as the tendency of surfaces to preferentially wet by one fluid phase: Phase altering wettability is crucial for shifting the petrophysical properties of reservoir rocks, such as pore size distribution and relative permeability characteristics. This change can enhance oil production and improve oil recovery (IOR) processes. The primary aims of the investigations are to characterize the wettability of the Sharara field and develop an innovative chemical for the protection and maintenance of reservoirs.
Column saturation dynamic tests were conducted to investigate the adsorption of asphaltenes from light Libyan oil, medium, and heavy Hungarian oils onto crushed formation rock from the Algyő field. The study found no significant difference in the adsorption of different asphaltenes on wettability. However, a well-defined correlation was observed between the mineral composition of the adsorbent and specific adsorption loss when the rock was treated with a particular percentage of calcite and clay. The stability of microscopically thin layers of water along the pore surfaces was also examined, showing the effect of residual water saturation on asphaltene adsorption processes.
Effect of Asphaltene Adsorption on Wettability has shown effective hydrophobization across all rock samples. The research concludes that solutions of asphaltenes, distillation heavy cuts, and even crude oils with high asphaltene contents can be used as treating media for hydrophobization of porous media.