Influence of mineralogy and surfactant concentration on zeta potential in intact sandstone at high pressure

Hypothesis: Zeta-potential in the presence of brine has been studied for its application within hydrocarbon reservoirs. These studies have shown that sandstone's zeta-potential remains negatively charged, non-zero, and levels-off at salinities > 0.4 mol.dm⁻³, thus becoming independent of salinity when ionic strength is increased further. However, research conducted to date has not yet considered clay-rich (i.e. clay ≥ 5 wt%) sandstones. Experiments: Firstly, streaming potential measurements were conducted on Bandera Gray sandstones (clay-rich and clay-poor) with 0.6 and 2 mol.dm⁻³ NaCl brine-saturated in pressurised environments (6.895 MPa overburden and 3.447 MPa back-pressure). Secondly, the streaming potential was determined at identical conditions for the effect of two surfactants, SDBS and CTAB, at concentrations of 0.01 and 0.1 wt% on the clay-poor sample in 0.6 mol.dm⁻³ NaCl. Thirdly, a comparison of zeta potentials determined via electrophoretic and streaming potential was conducted. Accordingly, this work analyses the effects of mineralogy and surfactants within this process. Findings: Clay-rich sandstone possessed lower zeta-potentials than clay-poor sandstone at the two tested salinities. SDBS reduced zeta-potential and yielded higher repulsive forces rendering the rock more hydrophilic. Additionally, electrophoretic zeta-potentials were higher when compared to streaming zeta-potentials. Mechanisms for the observed phenomena are also provided.