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Petroleum Reservoir UOK
Petroleum Reservoir UOK
Petroleum Reservoir UOK
1.14
Reservoir Eng. I / third class UOKirkuk/Petroleum Eng. Dep.
WETTABILITY
Wettability is defined as the tendency of one fluid to spread on, adhere, or wet
to a solid surface in the presence of other immiscible fluids, or, wettabilityis
defined as the ability of one fluid in the presence of another to spread on the
surface of the rock.
Wettability is measured by contact angle. Contact angle is always measured
through the denser phase.
For water-oil-solid system at equilibrium, the following equation (known as
Young’s equation) can be expressed;
Where is the interfacial tension between the oil and solid, between the water
andsolid, between the oil and water. is the contact angle measured through the
water phase (Fig. below).
2.14
Reservoir Eng. I / third class UOKirkuk/Petroleum Eng. Dep.
The limits of the scales are not definite, since a system with contact angle in the
range of about 75o to 105o is considered neutral.
Wettability play an important role in the production of oil and gas where it used
in determines initial fluid distributions, also is a main factor in the flow
processes in the reservoir rock.
Adhesion Tension
Adhesion Tension, is a function of the interfacial tension, determines which fluid
wets the solid.
In the case of water-oil-solid, the adhesion tension AT is defined as;
A positive adhesion tension AT indicates that water wets the solid surface
(water wet).
An AT of zero indicates that both phases have an equal affinity for the surface
(neutral system).
A negative AT indicates the oil wets the solid surface (oil wet).
3.14
Reservoir Eng. I / third class UOKirkuk/Petroleum Eng. Dep.
The magnitude of the adhesion tension determines the ability of the wetting
phase to adhere to the solid and to spread over the surface of the solid.
4.14
Reservoir Eng. I / third class UOKirkuk/Petroleum Eng. Dep.
liquid will rise in the tube until total force up equals total force down
a. total force up equals adhesion tension acting along thecircumferenceof the
water-air-solid interface
b. total force down equals the weight of the column of waterconverted to force
Gas-Water System
a. vertical component of surface tension is the surface
tensionbetween air and water multiplied by the
cosine of the contact angleacting along the water-
air-solid interface
5.14
Reservoir Eng. I / third class UOKirkuk/Petroleum Eng. Dep.
6.14