Effect of Temperature and Pressure on Wettability of Solids

Thermal recovery methods, such as Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD), are popular in heavy/ultra-heavy oil (such as bitumen) recovery. After the heat from the steam is transferred by thermal conduction to the surrounding reservoir, the steam condenses while reducing the viscosity of heavy oil among the other things. Investigation on the wettability of a solid in a liquid by an immiscible liquid at elevated temperature and pressure is essential to understand the science of oil liberation from reservoir solid surfaces in heterogeneous systems involving oil-water-solid three-phase contact. Such study would provide insights on the thermal recovery methods of petroleum production. However, contact angle and interfacial tension measurements on such systems at elevated temperature and pressure are rarely reported. In this webinar, we report the results on contact angle measurement of bitumen (an extreme heavy oil) on hydrophobized silicon through water and interfacial tension of bitumen drop in water at temperatures up to 190 ˚C and pressure up to 200 bar.