MEASUREMENT OF SURFACE ENERGY COMPONENTS AND WETTABILITY OF RESERVOIR ROCK UTILIZING ATOMIC FORCE MICROSCOPY

摘要

An instrument (and corresponding method) performs AFM techniques to characterize properties of a sample of reservoir rock. The AFM instrument is configured to have a probe with a tip realized from reservoir rock that corresponds to the reservoir rock of the sample. The AFM instrument is operated to derive and store data representing adhesion forces between the tip and the sample at one or more scan locations in the presence of a number of different fluids disposed between the tip and the sample. The AFM instrument is further configured to perform computational operations that process the data representing the adhesion forces for a given scan location in order to characterize at least one property of the rock sample at the given scan location. The properties can include total surface energy of the rock sample as well as wettability of the rock sample.

主权项

1. A method of characterizing properties of a sample of reservoir rock comprising:
i) configuring an Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) instrument to have a probe with a tip realized from reservoir rock that corresponds to the reservoir rock of the sample; ii) using the AFM instrument as configured in i) to derive and store data representing adhesion forces between the tip and the sample at one or more scan locations in the presence of a number of different fluids disposed between the tip and the sample; and iii) performing computational operations that process the data as derived and stored in ii) for a given scan location in order to characterize at least one property of the rock sample at the given scan location.