Conventional methods for wettability determination of shales: A comprehensive review of challenges, lessons learned, and way forward

The wettability is a critical property that governs the in situ fluid distribution, fractional flow, and hydrocarbon trapping in the porous media. This topic is of immense interest to the petroleum industry for the exploitation of unconventional resources, which have become a significant source of o...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Sharifigaliuk, H., Mahmood, S.M., Rezaee, Reza, Saeedi, Ali
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: ELSEVIER SCI LTD 2021
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/89536
_version_ 1848765239259037696
author Sharifigaliuk, H.
Mahmood, S.M.
Rezaee, Reza
Saeedi, Ali
author_facet Sharifigaliuk, H.
Mahmood, S.M.
Rezaee, Reza
Saeedi, Ali
author_sort Sharifigaliuk, H.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description The wettability is a critical property that governs the in situ fluid distribution, fractional flow, and hydrocarbon trapping in the porous media. This topic is of immense interest to the petroleum industry for the exploitation of unconventional resources, which have become a significant source of oil and gas production, especially in North America, Canada, and China, as a result of the advancement of horizontal drilling and fracking technologies. The conventional techniques as the central focus for wettability determination of shales include contact angle, spontaneous imbibition, and flotation. This paper reviews the published literature and analyzes the challenges and lessons learned from each method applicable for shales. The results of various techniques are compared, and their consistency is highlighted. Comparative contact angle measurements can characterize the surficial wettability and hysteresis of dynamic processes in shales. Spontaneous imbibition is recommended as the most realistic and representative measurement method, whereas it reveals the pore connectivity of the internal pore network. However, different liquid/rock interactions, mainly clay swelling and the creation of micro-fractures, affect the results thus necessitate the application of reservoir triaxial stress conditions on shale samples. In this review, finally, some concluding remarks and recommendations are presented.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T11:32:05Z
format Journal Article
id curtin-20.500.11937-89536
institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
language English
last_indexed 2025-11-14T11:32:05Z
publishDate 2021
publisher ELSEVIER SCI LTD
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling curtin-20.500.11937-895362023-01-18T05:36:24Z Conventional methods for wettability determination of shales: A comprehensive review of challenges, lessons learned, and way forward Sharifigaliuk, H. Mahmood, S.M. Rezaee, Reza Saeedi, Ali Science & Technology Physical Sciences Geosciences, Multidisciplinary Geology Shale Wettability Contact angle Spontaneous imbibition Flotation Consistency MIDDLE YANGTZE PLATFORM SPONTANEOUS IMBIBITION GAS SHALES WATER IMBIBITION CONTACT ANGLES PORE-STRUCTURE SICHUAN BASIN UNDERSTANDING WETTABILITY LOW-PERMEABILITY OIL-RECOVERY The wettability is a critical property that governs the in situ fluid distribution, fractional flow, and hydrocarbon trapping in the porous media. This topic is of immense interest to the petroleum industry for the exploitation of unconventional resources, which have become a significant source of oil and gas production, especially in North America, Canada, and China, as a result of the advancement of horizontal drilling and fracking technologies. The conventional techniques as the central focus for wettability determination of shales include contact angle, spontaneous imbibition, and flotation. This paper reviews the published literature and analyzes the challenges and lessons learned from each method applicable for shales. The results of various techniques are compared, and their consistency is highlighted. Comparative contact angle measurements can characterize the surficial wettability and hysteresis of dynamic processes in shales. Spontaneous imbibition is recommended as the most realistic and representative measurement method, whereas it reveals the pore connectivity of the internal pore network. However, different liquid/rock interactions, mainly clay swelling and the creation of micro-fractures, affect the results thus necessitate the application of reservoir triaxial stress conditions on shale samples. In this review, finally, some concluding remarks and recommendations are presented. 2021 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/89536 10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2021.105288 English ELSEVIER SCI LTD restricted
spellingShingle Science & Technology
Physical Sciences
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Geology
Shale
Wettability
Contact angle
Spontaneous imbibition
Flotation
Consistency
MIDDLE YANGTZE PLATFORM
SPONTANEOUS IMBIBITION
GAS SHALES
WATER IMBIBITION
CONTACT ANGLES
PORE-STRUCTURE
SICHUAN BASIN
UNDERSTANDING WETTABILITY
LOW-PERMEABILITY
OIL-RECOVERY
Sharifigaliuk, H.
Mahmood, S.M.
Rezaee, Reza
Saeedi, Ali
Conventional methods for wettability determination of shales: A comprehensive review of challenges, lessons learned, and way forward
title Conventional methods for wettability determination of shales: A comprehensive review of challenges, lessons learned, and way forward
title_full Conventional methods for wettability determination of shales: A comprehensive review of challenges, lessons learned, and way forward
title_fullStr Conventional methods for wettability determination of shales: A comprehensive review of challenges, lessons learned, and way forward
title_full_unstemmed Conventional methods for wettability determination of shales: A comprehensive review of challenges, lessons learned, and way forward
title_short Conventional methods for wettability determination of shales: A comprehensive review of challenges, lessons learned, and way forward
title_sort conventional methods for wettability determination of shales: a comprehensive review of challenges, lessons learned, and way forward
topic Science & Technology
Physical Sciences
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Geology
Shale
Wettability
Contact angle
Spontaneous imbibition
Flotation
Consistency
MIDDLE YANGTZE PLATFORM
SPONTANEOUS IMBIBITION
GAS SHALES
WATER IMBIBITION
CONTACT ANGLES
PORE-STRUCTURE
SICHUAN BASIN
UNDERSTANDING WETTABILITY
LOW-PERMEABILITY
OIL-RECOVERY
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/89536