Integrated Equilibrium-Transport Modeling for Optimizing Carbonated Low-Salinity Waterflooding in Carbonate Reservoirs

Amaury C. Alvarez, Johannes Bruining () and Dan Marchesin
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Amaury C. Alvarez: Instituto de Computação, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Av. Athos da Silveira Ramos, 274, Rio de Janeiro 21941-590, Brazil
Johannes Bruining: Civil Engineering and Geosciences, TU Delft, Stevinweg 1, 2628 CN Delft, The Netherlands
Dan Marchesin: Laboratory Fluid Dynamics, IMPA, Estrada Dona Castorina, 110, Rio de Janeiro 22460-320, Brazil

Energies, 2025, vol. 18, issue 17, 1-40

Abstract: Low-salinity waterflooding (LSWF) enhances oil recovery at low cost in carbonate reservoirs, but its effectiveness requires the precise control of injected water chemistry and interaction with reservoir minerals. This study specifically investigates carbonated low-salinity waterflooding (CLSWF), where dissolved CO 2 modulates geochemical processes. This study develops an integrated transport model coupling geochemical surface complexation modeling (SCM) with multiphase compositional dynamics to quantify wettability alteration during CLSWF. The framework combines PHREEQC-based equilibrium calculations of the Total Bond Product (TBP)—a wettability indicator derived from oil–calcite ionic bridging—with Corey-type relative permeability interpolation, resolved via COMSOL Multiphysics. Core flooding simulations, compared with experimental data from calcite systems at 100 C ∘ and 220 bar, reveal that magnesium ([ Mg 2 + ]) and sulfate ([ SO 4 2 − ]) concentrations modulate the TBP, reducing oil–rock adhesion under controlled low-salinity conditions. Parametric analysis demonstrates that acidic crude oils (TAN higher than 1 m g KOH/ g ) exhibit TBP values approximately 2.5 times higher than those of sweet crudes, due to carboxylate–calcite bridging, while pH elevation (higher than 7.5) amplifies wettability shifts by promoting deprotonated -COO − interactions. The model further identifies synergistic effects between ([ Mg 2 + ]) (ranging from 50 to 200 mmol/kgw) and ([ SO 4 2 − ]) (higher than 500 mmol/kgw), which reduce ( Ca 2 + )-mediated oil adhesion through competitive mineral surface binding. By correlating TBP with fractional flow dynamics, this framework could support the optimization of injection strategies in carbonate reservoirs, suggesting that ion-specific adjustments are more effective than bulk salinity reduction.

Keywords: low-salinity waterflooding; multicomponent ionic transport; wettability alteration; geochemical equilibrium modeling; pH-salinity coupling; brine–rock interactions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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