Reservoir Eng. I / third class UOKirkuk/Petroleum Eng. Dep.

14. BOUNDARY TENSION AND WETTABILITY

Boundary tension, 
A) At the boundary between two phases there is an imbalance of molecular forces
B) The result is to contract the boundary to a minimum size

C) The average molecule in the liquid is uniformly attracted in all directions

D) Molecules at the surface attracted more strongly from below
E) Creates concave or convex surface depending on force balance
F) Creation of this surface requires work
1. Work in ergs required to create 1 cm2 of surface (ergs/cm2) is termed"boundary
energy"
2. Also can be thought of as force in dynes acting along length of 1 cm required to
prevent destruction of surface (dynes/cm) - this is called "boundary tension"
3. Boundary Energy = Boundary Tension x Length
G) Interfacial tension (IFT)is the boundary tension between two immiscible
liquids(liquid - liquid interface) or between a fluid and a solid.
H) Surface tension (ST)is the boundary tension between gas and liquid (gas -
liquid interface).
gw = surface tension between gas and water
go = surface tension between gas and oil
wo = interfacial tension between water and oil
ws = interfacial tension between water and solid
os = interfacial tension between oil and solid
gs = interfacial tension between gas and solid
 The surface or interfacial tension has the units of force per unit of length, e.g.,
dynes/cm.

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Reservoir Eng. I / third class UOKirkuk/Petroleum Eng. Dep.

I) Forces creating boundary tension

1. Forces
a. Law of Universal Gravitation applied between molecules
b. physical attraction (repulsion) between molecules
2. Liquid-Gas Boundary
attraction between molecules is directly proportional to their masses and inversely
proportional to the square of the distance between them
3. Solid-Liquid Boundary
physical attraction between molecules of liquid and solid surface

WETTABILITY
 Wettability is defined as the tendency of one fluid to spread on, adhere, or wet
to a solid surface in the presence of other immiscible fluids, or, wettabilityis
defined as the ability of one fluid in the presence of another to spread on the
surface of the rock.
 Wettability is measured by contact angle. Contact angle is always measured
through the denser phase.
 For water-oil-solid system at equilibrium, the following equation (known as
Young’s equation) can be expressed;

Where is the interfacial tension between the oil and solid, between the water
andsolid, between the oil and water. is the contact angle measured through the
water phase (Fig. below).

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Reservoir Eng. I / third class UOKirkuk/Petroleum Eng. Dep.

 The contact angle has achieved significance as a measure of wettability.

 As the contact angle decreases, the wetting characteristics of the liquid
increase.
 Complete wettability would be evidenced by a zero contact angle, and
complete nonwetting would be evidenced by a contact angle of 180°.

The limits of the scales are not definite, since a system with contact angle in the
range of about 75o to 105o is considered neutral.
 Wettability play an important role in the production of oil and gas where it used
in determines initial fluid distributions, also is a main factor in the flow
processes in the reservoir rock.

Adhesion Tension
Adhesion Tension, is a function of the interfacial tension, determines which fluid
wets the solid.
 In the case of water-oil-solid, the adhesion tension AT is defined as;

 A positive adhesion tension AT indicates that water wets the solid surface
(water wet).
 An AT of zero indicates that both phases have an equal affinity for the surface
(neutral system).
 A negative AT indicates the oil wets the solid surface (oil wet).

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‫‪Reservoir Eng. I / third class‬‬ ‫‪UOKirkuk/Petroleum Eng. Dep.‬‬

‫‪ The magnitude of the adhesion tension determines the ability of the wetting‬‬
‫‪phase to adhere to the solid and to spread over the surface of the solid.‬‬

‫"‪a) if the solid is "water-wet‬‬

‫"‪b) if the solid is "oil-wet‬‬

‫‪Rise Of Fluids In Capillaries‬‬

‫فٍ حالح االواتُة الشعسَح التٍ فُها المطس الداخلٍ لالوثىب صغُس جدا ‪ ,‬فاذا وضع االوثىب فٍ وعاء كثُس‬
‫َحىٌ سائل فان السائل َستفع فٍ االوثىتح الشعسَح فىق مستىي السطح السائل فٍ الىعاء الكثُس‪.‬‬
‫هرا االزتفاع سثثه لىج التجاذب (التالصك) تُه االوعُح والسائل والىشن الملُل المتمثل تىاسطح عمىد السائل‬
‫فٍ االوثىتح‪ .‬لىج التالصك هٍ المىج التٍ تمُل لسحة السائل الً اعلً جدزان االوثىتح وعلُه َستفع السائل فٍ‬
‫االوثىتح حتً تكىن المىج الكلُح العاملح لسحة السائل الً االعلً معادلح لىشن عمىد السائل الرٌ هى مسىىد‬
‫تاألوثىتح‪.‬‬

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Reservoir Eng. I / third class UOKirkuk/Petroleum Eng. Dep.

liquid will rise in the tube until total force up equals total force down
a. total force up equals adhesion tension acting along thecircumferenceof the
water-air-solid interface

b. total force down equals the weight of the column of waterconverted to force

Where; = Adhesion Tension, dyne/cm

hheight to which the liquid is held, cm
gacceleration due to gravity,cm/sec2
wdensity of water, gm/cm3
c. thus when the column of water comes to equilibrium

Gas-Water System
a. vertical component of surface tension is the surface
tensionbetween air and water multiplied by the
cosine of the contact angleacting along the water-
air-solid interface

b. total force down

c. thus when the column of water comes to

equilibrium

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Reservoir Eng. I / third class UOKirkuk/Petroleum Eng. Dep.

wherew water density, gm/cm3

gwgas-water surface tension, dynes/cm
r = capillary radius, cm
contact angle
h = capillary rise, cm
g = acceleration due to gravity, cm/sec2
Oil-Water System
a. vertical component of surface tension equals the surface
tensionbetween oil and water multiplied by the cosine of the
contact angle acting along the circumference of the water-
oil-solid interface

b. the downward force caused by the weight of the column

of water ispartially offset (buoyed) by the weight of the
column of oil outside
the capillary.
c. thus, total force down equals the weight of the column of
waterminus the weight of an equivalent column of oil converted to force
1) weight per unit area of water =
2) weight per unit area of oil=
3) net weight per unit area acting to pull surface down
=
4) total force down

d. thus when the column of water comes toequilibrium

thus the equilibrium for the height of the column of water

wherewoisthe water-oil interfacial tension.

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