HR: 1340h
AN: H53E-1460    [Abstracts]
TI: Salinity Influence on Interfacial Area, Wettability, and NAPL Recovery
AU: * Zhong, L
EM: lirong.zhong@pnl.gov
AF: Pacific Northwest National Lab, P.O. Box 999 MSIN K6-96, Richland, WA 99354,
AU: Valenta, M M
EM: Michelle.Valenta@pnl.gov
AF: Pacific Northwest National Lab, P.O. Box 999 MSIN K6-96, Richland, WA 99354,
AB: Wettability, the tendency of rock or sediment particle surfaces to be preferentially wet by one fluid phase, has a strong influence on the distribution and flow of immiscible fluids in oil reservoirs or aquifers. The efficiency of oil and non-aqueous phase liquid (NAPL) recovery processes and the displacement and production of oil/NAPL by fluids injected into the reservoir or aquifer depend on the wetting properties of the rock/sediment particle surfaces. Effects of salinity on wettability and residual oil saturation during water flooding are of particular interest in the petroleum industry with some reservoirs. It was indicated that the residual oil saturation may be reduced significantly by flooding with low salinity water instead of seawater or brine. This observation may be also true in NAPL recovery from contaminated aquifers. NAPL recovery enhancement may be achieved by manipulating the salinity of the remedial fluid. Two sets of 8 core-flooding column experiments have been completed, using decane and Alaska North Slope (ANS) crude oil as surrogate NAPLs. Unconsolidated sand packs were used as representative porous media. NAPL removal was conducted by flushing column at residual NAPL saturation using water with salinity ranging from 0% to 8% wt of NaCl. The NAPL-water interfacial area (a_nw, cm^-1) was measured and used as an indicator for the wettability characteristics of the packed sand. Sodium Dodecyl Benzene Sulfonate (SDBS) was used as an interfacial partitioning tracer and Pentafluoro Benzoic acid (PFBA) was used as a non-reactive and non-partitioning tracer. NAPL was imbibed into an initially water saturated column, using positive displacement methods. NAPL was then flushed out using water at certain salinity. When the column attained a residual NAPL saturation after each water flushing displacement, the partitioning and conservative tracer experiments were conducted separately, to characterize the specific NAPL-water interfacial areas, and the wettability status. Water with 8%, 4%, 2%, 0% wt NaCl salinity was used to displace NAPL from the sand column sequentially. The interfacial tension (IFT) between the salinity water and the ANS oil was monitored. The residual oil saturations indicated that the fraction of NAPL retained in the column increased after water flushing as the salinity in the displacing water increased from 0 to 8%, clearly confirming the earlier findings that lower salinity may cause additional oil to be released. The NAPL-water interfacial area, a_nw, does not show a monotonic dependence on salinity; instead, a_nw shows an increasing trend with increasing salinity in the lower salinity range, and the opposite trend at high salinity values. The maximum anw was obtained in systems flushed with 2% salinity water. This trend appears to be consistent with a similar nonlinear dependence of interfacial tension on salinity, and might be an indication of wettability alternation. The observation of this research shread lights on the optimum operation in NAPL removal. The IFT change between NAPL and the salinity water might be attributed to the enhanced NAPL recovery.
DE: 0792 Contaminants (0432)
DE: 1831 Groundwater quality
SC: Hydrology [H]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting