Sana’a University

Petroleum Faculty
Oil and Gas Department
Rock Properties
Chapter (5)
Rocks and Fluids Interactions
BY: ENG. ABDULLAH AL-MOGHALES
 Rocks and Fluids Interactions

• The study of fluid-rock interaction is of a fundamental

importance to reservoir engineering because:

1. Such interaction influence fluid flow through the

reservoir.
2. Plays a dominant role in the distribution of fluids within
the reservoir’s pore space.
3. More importantly, it dictates the maximum amount of a
fluid that can be withdrawn from the reservoir.
 Rocks and Fluids Interactions

• Surface Tension.

• Interfacial Tension.

• Wettability.

• Capillary Pressure.
Surface Tension

• The molecules of any substance are held

together by intermolecular forces whose
magnitude depends on the molecular
composition and structure of the
substance.
• If you fill a slim and clean glass cylinder
with water (or oil), and observe the shape
of the fluid surface, you will notice that it
is concave as shown on the figure.
• The cause of surface concavity is that
fluid molecules at the surface are pulled
downward by other fluid molecules
beneath them, while from above, they are
pulled by air molecules with their much
weaker inter-molecular forces
 Surface Tension

• Since this force imbalance is equal everywhere on the

surface, its effect cannot be readily detected.

• On the other hand, at the edge of the surface where water

meets the wall of the cylinder, the opposite effect takes
place.

• There at the edge, water molecules are attracted by glass

molecules stronger than by air molecules. The result is that
water creeps up the inner wall of the cylinder causing the
surface to deform. This phenomenon is called surface
tension (σ).
 Interfacial Tension (IFT)

• If the experiment of the glass cylinder is repeated with water

covered by crude oil, tension would still exist at the oil-
water interface, which would still be concave but to a lesser
degree as oil-water attractive force is stronger than air-
water. Such tension is called interfacial tension.

• IFT is a force at the interface that acts to decrease the area

of the interface.
Interfacial Tension (IFT)
 Interfacial Tension (IFT)

• A typical value of water-oil interfacial tension, σwo, at room

temperature is 32 dyne/cm.

• The interfacial tension between gas and crude oil ranges

from near zero to approximately 34 dynes/cm.
 Wettability

• The wettability of a liquid is defined as the contact angle

between a droplet of the liquid in thermal equilibrium on a
horizontal surface.

• The Wettability is also is defined as the tendency of one fluid to

spread on or adhere to a solid surface in the presence of other
immiscible fluids. The concept of wettability is illustrated in the
below figure.
 Wettability

• The contact angle (θ) has achieved significance as a measure of

Wettability. As the contact angle decreases, the wetting
characteristics of the liquid increases.

 If a drop of water falls on clean glass plate, the water

spread. The water is wetting.

 If a droplet of mercury falls on clean glass plate, the

mercury remains in spherical form ( Non wetting ).

If drop of oil is placed on a clean glass plate. The oil

droplet develops a hemispherical shape (neutral wetting )
 Reservoir Rock-Fluid System
Wettability
• Wettability play an important role in the production of oil and
gas as it not only determines initial fluid distributions, but also is
a main factor in the flow processes in the reservoir rock.

• The wettability of a reservoir rock system will depend on the

following factors:
 Reservoir rock material and pore geometry.
 Geological mechanisms (accumulation and migration).
 Physical conditions; pressure and temperature.
 Mechanisms occurring during production; i.e. change in
saturations, pressure and composition
 Capillary Pressure

• The capillary forces in a petroleum reservoir are the result of the

combined effect of the surface and interfacial tensions of the
rock and fluids, the pore size and geometry, and the wetting
characteristics of the system. Any curved surface between two
immiscible fluids has the tendency to contract into the smallest
possible area per unit volume.

• This is true whether the fluids are oil and water, water and
gas (even air), or oil and gas. When two immiscible fluids
are in contact, a discontinuity in pressure exists between the
two fluids, which depends upon the curvature of the
interface separating the fluids. We call this pressure
difference the capillary pressure and it is referred to by Pc.
Capillary Pressure
Capillary Pressure
Thank You…