Spontaneous imbibition and forced water injection in mixed-wet multiscale oolitic limestone studied through the differential imaging-based porous plate technique
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Understanding imbibition in multiscale porous carbonates is essential for predicting fluid distribution in subsurface applications. We measured the capillary pressure for spontaneous imbibition and forced water injection in a mixed-wet multiscale oolitic limestone with distinct macro-, intermediate-size-, and micropore structure using the differential imaging-based porous plate (DIPP) technique. Spontaneous imbibition was found to occur through water-wet micropore channels, whereas forced water injection was dominated by the flow in mixed-wet and oil-wet macro-pores with residual oil found in pores of intermediate size. The analysis of contact angle, curvature, macro-pore occupancy, and overall water Amott index demonstrated mixed-wet-to-oil-wet conditions, resulting in a percolation-like advance during forced water injection. The water Amott index calculated on each pore size classification indicated water-wet micropores and oil-wet intermediate-size- and macro-pores. Our results highlight the role of micropores in sustaining water flow at low saturation and the role of intermediate-size-pores in retaining residual oil, advancing the predictive understanding of fluid behavior in carbonate reservoirs.
Date Issued
2025-12-01
Date Acceptance
2025-10-21
Citation
Transport in Porous Media, 2025, 152 (12)
ISSN
0169-3913
Publisher
Springer
Journal / Book Title
Transport in Porous Media
Volume
152
Issue
12
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2025 Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
License URL
Subjects
Capillary pressure
Engineering
Engineering, Chemical
FLOW
Forced water injection
Limestone
MEDIA
OIL-RECOVERY
Porous plate
Science & Technology
Spontaneous imbibition
Technology
X-ray imaging
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
110
Date Publish Online
2025-11-09