Experimental Investigation of Wettability Alteration of Oil-Wet Carbonates by a Non-ionic Surfactant

Wettability alteration toward a more water-wet state was found to be a promising approach for oil recovery improvement in oil-wet and naturally fractured carbonate reservoirs. This approach has been extensively studied in the literature using low-salinity/smart water and surfactant injection separately. However, application of surfactants in enhanced oil recovery is limited by their compatibility with the conditions of the reservoirs. In this study, polyethoxylated non-ionic surfactants with different ethylene oxide units were combined with low-salinity brine for a more efficient and cost-effective process. The compatibility of the surfactant solutions highly improved by reducing the salinity in the range of 200-2 g/L. Interfacial tension (IFT) measurements revealed that IFT decreased with increasing salinity. Contact angle measurements of calcite surfaces showed that wettability can be altered from a strong oil-wet state to a water-wet state after treatment with solutions of non-ionic surfactants over a wide range of salinities (∼2-110 g/L). ζ potential, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis revealed that the non-ionic surfactant could partially displace carboxylate compounds from the surface and adsorb by forming a hydrogen bond with the hydroxyl group on the calcite surface. The formation of hydrogen bonds between ethoxy groups of the surfactant and hydroxyl or carboxylic groups on the solid surface can result in the replacement of organic compounds on the calcite surface. The organic compounds could form a new layer on the layer of adsorbed surfactant molecules via hydrophobic interactions. In addition, adsorption of the hydrophobic part of the non-ionic surfactant on the hydrophobic calcite surface and the formation of a surfactant double layer could partially contribute to the wettability alteration process.