SPE 119600

Effect of Brine Salinity on Interfacial Tension in Arab-D Carbonate

Reservoir, Saudi Arabia
Taha M. Okasha, SPE, and Abdul-Jalil A. Al-Shiwaish, Saudi Aramco

Copyright 2009, Society of Petroleum Engineers

This paper was prepared for presentation at the 2009 SPE Middle East Oil & Gas Show and Conference held in the Bahrain International Exhibition Centre, Kingdom of Bahrain, 15–18 March 2009.

This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE program committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents of the paper have not been
reviewed by the Society of Petroleum Engineers and are subject to correction by the author(s). The material does not necessarily reflect any position of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, its
officers, or members. Electronic reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this paper without the written consent of the Society of Petroleum Engineers is prohibited. Permission to
reproduce in print is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words; illustrations may not be copied. The abstract must contain conspicuous acknowledgment of SPE copyright.

Abstract
Carbonate reservoirs contain more than 50% of the worlds’s hydrocarbons reserves. In Saudi Arabia, most of the current
hydrocarbon production is from Arab-D carbonate reservoir (Upper Jurassic limestone). Oil production started 50 years ago.
So, the various fields had been subjected to prolonged pressure support by waterfloods (since 1970) using high salinity brine
(Arabian Gulf water). Oil recovery using waterflooding is about a third of the oil original in place (OOIP); while two-thirds
still remain as a target for additional recovery.

Low salinity waterflooding was introduced as an enhanced oil recovery technique from at least 65 years. Interfacial tension
(IFT) between oil and brine during waterflooding has a significant effect on oil recovery and production strategy. So, this
study was carried out to investigate the effect of brine dilution, temperature, and pressure on IFT of dead and recombined oil
in Arab-D carbonate reservoir as the first phase in evaluating the potential of low salinity flooding technique to improve oil
recovery.

In this study, Arab-D reservoir brine with total dissolved solids (TDS) of 214,943 ppm was mixed with distilled water in two
proportions resulting in a first solution with TDS = 107,906 ppm and a second with TDS = 52,346 ppm. For reservoir brine
and each diluted brine, crude oil/water IFT was measured at reservoir conditions. Test results showed a decrease in IFT
values for both dead and recombined oil as the volume percent of brine in the mixture decreased. IFT decreased with
increasing temperature at constant pressure and increased with pressure at constant temperature. Such results show that low
salinity flooding may be a good technique to improve oil recovery in Arab-D carbonate reservoir. This will require an
intensive experimental coreflooding tests due to complexity of the Arab-D reservoir.

Introduction
Carbonate reservoirs make up about 20 % of the world's sedimentary rocks and contain 40 % of the world's oil. In Saudi
Arabia, most of the current hydrocarbon production is from Arab-D carbonate reservoir (Upper Jurassic limestone). Various
fields had been subjected to prolonged pressure support by waterfloods (since 1970) using high salinity brine (Arabian Gulf
water). Oil recovery using waterflooding is about a third of the oil original in place (OOIP); while two-thirds still remain as a
target for additional recovery.

Hydrocarbon recovery depends mainly on the overall efficiency with which oil is displaced by some other fluid. When the
fluids are brine and oil, this displacement is characterized by viscous and capillary forces, and by the original saturation and
saturation history. It has been recognized that surface forces play an active part in the oil production and in determining the
amount of unrecoverable oil. The magnitudes of these forces are governed by the value of interfacial tensions (Abrams, A.,
1975).

Low salinity waterflooding was introduced as an enhanced oil recovery technique 65 years ago. This technique received less
attention than other enhanced recovery methods. The recovery mechanisms of low salinity waterflood are complex and not
well defined especially for carbonate reservoirs. There are some investigators maintained that low salinity behaves in a
fashion similar to alkaline flooding. Like alkaline flooding, low salinity reduces the interfacial tension between the reservoir
oil and brine (Tang and Morrow, 1997, 1999). However, studies conducted to evaluate the effect brine salinity on interfacial
and contact angle are very limited (Vijapurapu and Rao, 2003; Buckley and Fan, 2005).
2 SPE 119600

The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of brine dilution, temperature, and pressure on IFT of dead and
recombined oil in Arab-D carbonate reservoir as the first phase in evaluating the potential of low salinity flooding technique
to improve oil recovery in Arabian carbonate reservoir.

Experimental Procedure
Fluids and Material
Oil
Stock tank crude oil produced from Arab-D reservoir and recombined live oil samples (Haradh area) represented oleic phases
in this study. The composition of crude oil, API and total acid number are listed in Table-1. The crude oil was filtered to
remove solids and evacuated for two hours at room temperature before use to reduce the possibility of gas evolution in
experiments run at elevated temperature. The live oil was recombined from separator oil and gas to give a solution gas of 414
SCF/STB. The hydrocarbon analyses of recombined Arab-D live oil are listed in Table-2.

Brine
Synthetic brines were prepared from distilled water and reagent grade chemicals. Arab-D reservoir brine (TDS = 214,943
ppm) was mixed with distilled water in two proportions resulting in a first solution with TDS of 107,906 ppm and a second
solution with TDS of 52,346 ppm. The synthetic brines were filtered through 0.2 μm filter paper and then evacuated for four
hours before use to remove dissolved gas. The compositions of the three synthetic brines are listed in Table-3.

Interfacial Tension Apparatus

Interfacial tension was measured using a high temperature/high pressure pendent drop instrument. Figure 1 shows a
schematic of the experimental equipment used for measurements in this study. It consists of IFT cell, hand pump for
injection of oil or water using 2 way valve, vibration free table, needles, imaging system (video camera with computer
display, monitor, and software data storage and calculation of IFT values), temperature control system (water bath), lamp,
transfer cells, and pressure transducers with digital display. Recent progress in image analysis and data acquisition systems
has made it possible to obtain a direct digitization of the drop image with the aid of a video frame grabber of a digital camera.
IFT was calculated from drop shape by to the Young-Laplace equation.

Cleaning procedure for IFT Apparatus

A very important step in measuring interfacial tension is a thorough cleaning of the apparatus, because any trace amounts of
contamination can alter the results. Oil flow line was cleaned first by toluene until very clean toluene is flowing out. Ten pore
volumes of methanol were used to flush the lines. The line was then dried by flowing dry air. Water flow line was first
flushed with ethanol followed by ten pore volumes of distilled water. Brine was then used to flush the lines for at least five
pore volumes.

Interfacial Tension Measurement

To determine the (IFT) of crude oil/brine interface we used pendent-drop tensiometry, with a small oil drop formed upwards
at the tip of stainless-steel needle immersed in the aqueous brine (Figure 2). The following experimental procedures were
followed:

1- Run a calibration test first by placing stainless steel ball inside empty IFT cell.
2- Set up the image system to be ready to take picture.
3- Select calibration option and run the program to adjust the horizontal/vertical apex ratio.
4- Remove the ball from IFT cell and fix the position of the camera.
5- Pump synthetic brine into the IFT cell to full level.
6- Pump oil very carefully through the bottom needle to get a stable oil drop on the top of the needle inside the cell.
7- Set temperature at reservoir value using temperature control to obtain temperature equilibrium inside the whole cell.
Use the heating jackets wrapped around the cell and water bath to control the system temperature.
8- Pump brine into the cell to increase the pressure inside the cell to reservoir pressure. At the same time oil should be
pumped to keep the oil drop still on the top of the bottom needle.
9- Take pictures at reservoir temperature and pressure.
10- Run the image drop image program to calculate IFT values.
SPE 119600 3

Results and Discussion

Arab-D Dead Oil/Brine System
The interfacial tension (IFT) between Arab-D dead oil and brines with various salinities was measured at various
temperatures (up to 90 oC) and pressures (up to 2,500 psig). Table-4 lists the IFT values at various temperatures and pressure
for three brines with different salinity.

Figures 3, 4, and 5 show plots of interfacial tension for high, medium, and low salinity brine /dead oil systems, respectively.
Data in Table-4 and plots in Figures 3-5 indicate a decrease in IFT of Arab-D oil with temperature. The decrease of IFT
values at higher temperature can be attributed to the weakening of intermolecular forces at the oil/brine interface. Also, the
presence of divalent calcium and magnesium cations may have specific interactions with ionizable species at the brine/oil
interface. These results are, in general, consistent with results published by Hjemeland and Larrondo, 1983. There is a little
increase in IFT with pressure at constant temperature. For example, at 90 oC the IFT values increased from 29.5 dyne/cm to
31.9 dyne/cm when the applied pressure increased from 500 psig to 2,500 psig for dead oil/high salinity brine system. Similar
trend of increase in IFT with pressure was obtained by Wang and Gupta, 1995.

The interfacial tension at the liquid interface can be related to the drop shape through the following equation:
σ = Δρ g R02 / β ………………………………………………………………..……….…………………………….(1)
Where:
σ = interfacial tension
Δρ = density difference between the two immiscible fluids
g = acceleration due to gravity
R0 = radius of curvature at the drop apex
β = shape factor

IFT depends on the density difference of two fluids ( Δρ ) in the IFT system. Both temperature and pressure will affect the
densities of fluids. Because oil is more compressible than water, ( Δρ ) will increase with pressure and consequently IFT
increases with pressure all the time (Figures 3- 5). Increasing temperature will decrease the density of both brine and oil
which will lead to decrease in IFT.

There is a general trend of decrease in IFT values as brine salinity decreased. For example, at a temperature of 90 oC and a
pressure of 2,500 psig, the IFT for high salinity brine was 31.9 dyne/cm; while for low salinity brine was 18.6 dyne/cm.

Arab-D Recombined Oil/Brine System

The interfacial tension between recombined live Arab-D oil and brines with different salinities was measured at various
temperatures (up to 90 oC) and pressure of 2,500 psig. Table-5 lists the IFT values at various temperatures. The plots in
Figure 6 showed a little increase in IFT as the temperature increased to 50 oC. However, the IFT values decreased with
further increase of temperature up to 90 oC. Results showed there is a general trend of decrease in IFT values with further
dilution of high salinity brine with distilled water at fixed temperature. For example at 90 oC, the IFT reduced from 31.4
dyne/cm for high salinity brine to 20.1 dyne/cm for low salinity brine.

From the above results and discussion, it can be stated that dilution of brine reduces the IFT between oil and brine which may
help in improving oil recovery in case of injecting low salinity brine. However, more experimental waterflooding tests and
research investigations are required to understand the mechanism of using low salinity brine to improve oil recovery of
Arabian carbonate reservoir.

Conclusions
Based on the experimental results discussed in this study, the following conclusions can be made:

1. The interfacial tension (IFT) between Arab-D live oil and brine decreased as the volume percent of brine in the
mixture decreased at constant temperature.
2. The IFT of Arab-D dead oil-brine system decreased with further dilution of high salinity brine with distilled water.
3. The IFT for both Arab-D dead oil/brine and recombined oil/brine systems decreased with increasing temperature at
constant pressure. On the other hand, it increased with pressure at constant temperature.
4. The reduction of IFT with brine dilution reflects the potential implication of low salinity flooding in improving oil
recovery.
4 SPE 119600

Acknowledgment
Appreciation is given to the Saudi Arabian Oil Company and to the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Petroleum and Minerals for
permission to publish this work. The authors wish to thank the management of EXPEC Advanced Research Center. Special
thanks to Petrophysics Unit personnel for their efforts in experimental work.

References
Abrams, A.: “The Influence of Fluid Viscosity, Interfacial Tension, and Flow Velocity on Residual Oil Saturation Left by Waterflood”,
Soc. Pet. Eng. J. (Oct 1975), 437-447.
Buckley, J. S., and Fan, T.,: “Crude Oil/Brine Interfacial Tensions” Paper SCA2005 presented at the International Symposium of the
Society of Core Analysts, Toronto, Canada, 21-25 August, (2005).
Hjelmeland, O. S., and Larranodo, L. E.: “Experimental Investigation of the Effects of Temperature, Pressure, and Crude Oil Composition
on Interfacial Properties”, Paper SPE 12124 presented at the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, (1983), San
Francisco, CA, Oct. 5-8.
Tang, G., and Morrow, N. R.,: “Salinity, Temperature, Oil Composition, and Oil Recovery by Waterflooding” SPE Reservoir Engineering,
November, (1997), pp 269-276.
Tang, G., and Morrow, N. R.,: “Influence of Brine Composition and Fines Migration on Crude Oil/Brine/Rock Interactions and Oil
Recovery” J. Pet. Sci. Eng., (1999), Vol. 24, pp. 269-276.
Vijapurapu, C.S., and Rao, D.N.,: “Effect of Brine Dilution and Surfactant Concentration on Spreading and Wettability” Paper SPE 80273
presented at the SPE International Symposium on Oil Field Chemistry, Houston, Texas, 5-7 February, (2003).
Wang, W., and Gupta, A.: “Investigation of the Effect of Temperature and Pressure on Wettability Using Pendent Drop Method”, Paper
SPE 30544 presented at the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, Dallas, Oct. 22-25, (1995).
SPE 119600 5

Table 1 - Composition and properties of Arab-D crude oil.

Component Amount
Saturates 40.0 % weight

Aromatics 47.6 % weight

Resins 6.8 % weight

Asphaltenes 5.6 % weight

API 30.5

Total Acid Number 0.14 mg KOH/g oil

Table 2 - Hydrocarbon analyses of Arab-D recombined live oil.

Mole
Component
Percent
Nitrogen 0.17
Carbon Dioxide 3.25
Hydrogen Sulfide 0.44
Methane 20.05
Ethane 9.44
Propane 8.41
i-Butane 1.09
n-Butane 4.52
i-Pentane 1.79
n-Pentane 3.48
Hexanes 4.50
Heptanes & heavier 42.86

Table 3 - Compositional analyses of synthetic brine.

Component Type of Brine

High Salinity Medium Low Salinity
Brine Salinity Brine Brine
Chloride (ppm) 127,881 64,433 31,440
Calcium (ppm) 23,314 11,633 5,595
Magnesium (ppm) 1,268 655 312
Sodium (ppm) 62,151 31,008 14,914
Sulfate (ppm) 250 120 <50
Bicarbonate (ppm) 79 57 35
o
pH@25 C 6.7 7.3 7.3
TDS (ppm) 214,943 107,906 52,346
6 SPE 119600

Table 4 - Interfacial tension of Arab-D dead oil/brine system

at various temperatures and pressures.

Interfacial Tension (Dyne/cm)

Temperature Pressure
o
( C) (psig)
High Medium Low
Salinity Salinity Salinity

25 32.40 31.59 29.00

50 500 32.80 31.37 29.10
90 29.50 24.20 17.70
25 33.26 32.50 29.20
50 1000 33.30 32.40 29.20
90 30.50 24.60 17.90
25 33.86 33.40 29.74
50 2000 34.06 33.40 30.16
90 31.45 25.09 18.31
25 34.35 33.40 30.23
50 2500 34.40 33.84 30.64
90 31.99 25.36 18.58

Table 5 - Interfacial tension of Arab-D recombined live oil/brine system

at various temperatures.

Interfacial Tension
Temperature (Dyne/cm)
( oC )
High Salinity Medium Salinity Low Salinity

25 31.7 28.21 26.90

50 33.01 29.11 27.92

90 31.37 25.38 20.10

SPE 119600 7

Figure 1 - Reservoir Conditions Interfacial Tension System.

Oil

Brine

Figure 2 - Hanging Oil Drop at the Needle Tip in Brine Phase.

8 SPE 119600

35
Total Dissolved soilds
= 214,943 ppm
Interfacial Tension (Dyne/cm)

33

31

Dead Oil/Brine
System
29 High Salinity, P = 500 psig

High Salinity P = 1000 psig

High Salinity P = 2000 psig

High Salinity P = 2500 psig

27
20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Temperature (oC)

Figure 3 - Effect of temperature and pressure on interfacial tension of high salinity Arab-D dead oil/brine system.

34
Medium Salinity P = 500 psig

Medium Salinity P = 1000 psig

Interfacial Tension (Dyne/cm)

32 Medium Salinity P = 2000 psig

Medium Salinity P = 2500 psig

30

Total Dissolved soilds

= 107,906 ppm

28

Dead Oil/Brine
System
26

24
20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Temperature (oC)

Figure 4 - Effect of temperature and pressure on interfacial tension of medium salinity Arab-D dead oil/brine system.
SPE 119600 9

32
Low Salinity P = 500 psig
30 Low Salinity P = 1000 psig
Interfacial Tension (Dyne/cm)

Low Salinity P = 2000 psig

28
Low Salinity P = 2500 psig

26
Total Dissolved soilds
= 52,346 ppm
24

22

20
Dead Oil/Brine
System
18

16
20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Temperature (oC)

Figure 5 - Effect of temperature and pressure on interfacial tension of low salinity Arab-D dead oil/brine system.

35

33
Interfacial Tension (Dyne/cm)

31

29

27

25

23

21

19 Live oil Low Salinity

Pressure = 2,500 psig
Medium Salinity
17
High Salinity
15
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
o
Temperature ( C)

Figure 6 - Effect of brine salinity on interfacial tension of Arab-D live oil/brine system at reservoir pressure (2500 psig).