Wettability Alteration Due to Low Salinity Water Flooding: Discussion About Optimal Deployment Scenario

Low salinity waterflooding (LSWF) is an interesting hydrocarbon recovery method from bothacademics and industrial points of view. Publication of various experimental, modeling, simulation, andreview papers show the scoops of interest in this method. The purpose of this paper is to gather the latestnovel observation for optimal deployment and implementation of LSWF, including; ۱-the philosophy ofthe chemistry of injected brine, ۲- the release and mobility of the oil phase, ۳- crude oil-brine-rock(COBR) interactions ۴- salinity-dependent wettability alteration ۵-shortcomings of the laboratoryexecution protocols, and ۶- modeling LSWF by low-salinity relative permeability curves.All in all, instead of reporting another review paper, this paper, for the first time, addresses somepractical guides for optimal deployment of LSWF. The outcome of this report shows that lowering thesalinity is not always the best approach for improving the recovery factor of the reservoirs. The currentunderstanding of the LSWF suffers from the view of the point of the authors, and there is not a uniqueprotocol that points and fills the gaps in the literature.

Keywords:

Low Salinity Water Flooding , Wettability Alteration , Salinity , Brine