Measurement of the diffuse double-layer forces between zirconia and α-alumina

Summary Low-salinity waterflooding (LSW) is ineffective when reservoir rock is strongly water-wet or when crude oil is not asphaltenic. Success of LSW relies heavily on the ability of injected brine to alter surface chemistry of reservoir crude-oil brine/rock (COBR) interfaces. Implementation of LSW in carbonate reservoirs is especially challenging because of high reservoir-brine salinity and, more importantly, because of high reactivity of the rock minerals. Both features complicate understanding of the COBR surface chemistries pertinent to successful LSW. Here, we tackle the complex physicochemical processes in chemically active carbonates flooded with diluted brine that is saturated with atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) and possibly supplemented with additional ionic species, such as sulfates or phosphates. When waterflooding carbonate reservoirs, rock equilibrates with the injected brine over short distances. Injected-brine ion speciation is shifted substantially in the presence of reactive carbonate rock. Our new calculations demonstrate that rock-equilibrated aqueous pH is slightly alkaline quite independent of injected-brine pH. We establish, for the first time, that CO2 content of a carbonate reservoir, originating from CO2-rich crude oil and gas, plays a dominant role in setting aqueous pH and rock-surface speciation. A simple ion-complexing model predicts the calcite-surface charge as a function of composition of reservoir brine. The surface charge of calcite may be positive or negative, depending on speciation of reservoir brine in contact with the calcite. There is no single point of zero charge; all dissolved aqueous species are charge determining. Rock-equilibrated aqueous composition controls the calcite-surface ion-exchange behavior, not the injected-brine composition. At high ionic strength, the electrical double layer collapses and is no longer diffuse. All surface charges are located directly in the inner and outer Helmholtz planes. Our evaluation of calcite bulk and surface equilibria draws several important inferences about the proposed LSW oil-recovery mechanisms. Diffuse double-layer expansion (DLE) is impossible for brine ionic strength greater than 0.1 molar. Because of rapid rock/brine equilibration, the dissolution mechanism for releasing adhered oil is eliminated. Also, fines mobilization and concomitant oil release cannot occur because there are few loose fines and clays in a majority of carbonates. LSW cannot be a low-interfacial-tension alkaline flood because carbonate dissolution exhausts all injected base near the wellbore and lowers pH to that set by the rock and by formation CO2. In spite of diffuse double-layer collapse in carbonate reservoirs, surface ion-exchange oil release remains feasible, but unproved.

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Estimation of Compressibility and Permeability of Very Soft Clays by Means of the Diffuse Double Layer Theory

SOILS AND FOUNDATIONS ◽

10.3208/sandf1972.31.3_175 ◽

1991 ◽

Vol 31 (3) ◽

pp. 175-184 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Hyeongjoo Kim ◽

Hiroshi Yoshikuni ◽

Kazuhiro Tsurugasaki

Keyword(s):

Double Layer ◽

Diffuse Double Layer ◽

Soft Clays ◽

Double Layer Theory

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The double layer in the absence of specific adsorption

Interfacial Electrochemistry ◽

10.1093/oso/9780195089325.003.0024 ◽

1996 ◽

Author(s):

Wolfgang Schmickler

Keyword(s):

Metal Surface ◽

Double Layer ◽

Specific Adsorption ◽

Perfect Conductor ◽

Diffuse Double Layer ◽

Capacity Curves ◽

Plane Passing ◽

Constant Potential ◽

Two Phases ◽

Solvent Molecules

One of the fundamental problems in electrochemistry is the distribution of the potential and of the particles at the interface. Here we will expand on the subject of Chapter 3, and consider the interface between a metal and an electrolyte solution in the absence of specific adsorption. Until about 1980 a simple model of this interface prevailed, which was based on a particular interpretation of the interfacial capacity. The metal was assumed to be a perfect conductor in the classical sense, and hence a region of constant potential right up to the metal surface. As was pointed out in Chapter 3, the inverse capacity can be split into two terms, a Gouy-Chapman and a Helmholtz term: l/C = l/CGc + 1/CH. It was argued that these two terms pertain to two different regions in the solution: the space charge or diffuse double layer, which is already familiar to us, and the Stern or outer Helmholtz layer giving rise to the Helmholtz capacity. Since the latter does not depend on the concentration of the ions, the Stern layer was supposed to consist of a monolayer of solvent molecules adsorbed on the metal surface. The plane passing through the centers of these molecules was called the outer Helmholtz plane. Rather elaborate models were developed for the dielectric properties of this layer in order to explain Helmholtz capacity curves such as those shown in Fig. 3.3. This Gouy-Chapman-Stern model, as it was named after its main contributors, is a highly simplified model of the interface, too simple for quantitative purposes. It has been superseded by more realistic models, which account for the electronic structure of the metal, and the existence of an extended boundary layer in the solution. It is, however, still used even in current publications, and therefore every electrochemist should be familiar with it. In the remainder of this chapter we will present elements of modern double-layer theory. Two phases meet at this interface: the metal and the solution. We will consider each phase in turn.

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