Vol. 337 No. 1 (2026)
DOI https://doi.org/10.18799/24131830/2026/1/4909
Application of microfluidic chips to study the patterns of wettability formation in oil reservoir rocks and the possibility of its changing using nanofluids
Relevance. Wettability of the pore space of hydrocarbon reservoir rocks and the capillary effects associated with it have a decisive effect on fluid distribution in the rock. Naturally, planning any impact on a productive formation to stimulate oil or gas inflow should be carried out taking into account the wettability characteristics of the formation. Formation of wettability of the pore surface of hydrocarbon reservoirs occurs over a long period of time under conditions of contact between the rock and hydrocarbons. As a result of such contact, various components of oil or gas can be adsorbed on the pore surface, thereby changing the initial wettability of the pure rock. Rocks formed by various minerals, as a rule, have hydrophilic pore wettability, which changes towards hydrophobic as a result of contact with hydrocarbons. Aim. To study the patterns of change in wettability of mineral surfaces upon contact with oil and the possibility of its changing using nanofluids. Methods. Glass microfluidic chips, which are physical micromodels of porous rocks, were used for an experimental study of changes in the wettability of a mineral surface upon contact with oil. The microchannels of the glass chips, which have hydrophilic wettability, were filled with oil and kept for a specified period of time. After keeping (aging) in oil, the oil was displaced from the microchannels by pumping water. Video recording of displacement using optical microscopy methods made it possible to study in detail the processes at the water–oil boundary in the microchannels. For one of the oils, hydrophobization of the microchannel surface was shown. The second part of the experimental investigation is devoted to studying the possibility of modifying the wettability established after aging in oil using a nanosuspension with silicon dioxide nanoparticles as a displacement agent. Results and conclusions. The authors have obtained the dependences of the contact wetting angle at the microchannel wall–water–oil boundary on the aging time for two different oils. Experiments on displacement on microfluidic chips with an irregular network of microchannels showed the advantage of using nanofluids compared to water. The research methods and results applied in the work can be used to develop innovative methods for testing and selecting the most effective agents for increasing oil recovery.
Keywords:
wettability, microfluidics, hydrophobization, nanofluid, enhanced oil recovery
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