EFFECT OF FLUID PROPERTIES ON CONTACT ANGLES IN THE EAGLE FORD SHALE MEASURED WITH SPONTANEOUS IMBIBITION

Published

November 19, 2021

Author(s)

Joanna McFarlane, Victoria H. DiStefano, Philip R. Bingham, Hassina Z. Bilheux, Michael C. Cheshire, Richard E. Hale, Daniel Hussey, David Jacobson, Lindsay M. Kolbus, Jacob LaManna, Edmund Perfect, Mark Rivers, Louis J. Santodonato, Lawrence M. Anovitz

Abstract

Models of fluid flow are used to improve the efficiency of oil and gas extraction and to estimate the storage and leakage of carbon dioxide in geologic reservoirs. Therefore, a quantitative understanding of key parameters of rock-fluid interactions, such as contact angles and the rate of spontaneous imbibition, is necessary for these models to predict reservoir behavior accurately. In this study, aqueous fluid imbibition rates were measured in fractures in samples of the Eagle Ford Shale by using neutron imaging. Several fluids, including pure water and fluids that contain sodium bicarbonate and sodium chloride, were used to determine the impact of solution chemistry on uptake rates. Uptake rate analysis provided dynamic contact angles for the Eagle Ford Shale that ranged from 51 to 90° using the Schwiebert-Leong equation, suggesting hydrophobic mineralogy. When corrected for hydrostatic pressure, the average contact angle was calculated as 76 ± 7°, with the higher values at the entrance to the fracture. Differences in imbibition arising from differing fracture widths, physical fluid properties, and the wetting front height were investigated. For instance, the bicarbonate-contacted samples in particular had average contact angles that varied between 62 ± 10° and 84 ± 6° as the fluid rose in the column, likely reflecting convergence-divergence structure in the fracture. Second imbibitions into the same samples showed a much more rapid uptake for water and sodium chloride solutions that indicated the alteration of the clay in contact with the solution producing a water-wet environment. The same effect was not observed for the sodium bicarbonate uptakes, which suggested that the bicarbonate ion prevented the hydration of the shale minerals. This study demonstrates how imbibition rate measured by neutron imaging can be used to determine contact angles for various solutions in contact with shale or other materials. It also shows that wetting properties can vary on a relatively fine scale during imbibition, requiring detailed descriptions of wetting for reservoir modeling.

Citation

ACS Ω

Pub Type

Journals

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Keywords

neutron imaging, shale, spontaneous imbibition, contact angle

Citation

McFarlane, J. , DiStefano, V. , Bingham, P. , Bilheux, H. , Cheshire, M. , Hale, R. , Hussey, D. , Jacobson, D. , Kolbus, L. , LaManna, J. , Perfect, E. , Rivers, M. , Santodonato, L. and Anovitz, L. (2021), EFFECT OF FLUID PROPERTIES ON CONTACT ANGLES IN THE EAGLE FORD SHALE MEASURED WITH SPONTANEOUS IMBIBITION, ACS Ω, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=932667 (Accessed October 10, 2025)