Small-Angle Neutron Scattering Investigation of Oil Recovery in Mineralogically Distinct Wolfcamp Shale Strata

Neil, Chelsea Wren; Hjelm, Jr., Rex Paul; Hawley, Marilyn E.; Watkins, Erik Benjamin; Mao, Yimin; Pawar, Rajesh J.; Xu, Hongwu

doi:10.1021/acs.energyfuels.2c03964

Small-Angle Neutron Scattering Investigation of Oil Recovery in Mineralogically Distinct Wolfcamp Shale Strata

Journal Article · Mon Mar 13 00:00:00 EDT 2023 · Energy and Fuels

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.energyfuels.2c03964· OSTI ID:1972115

^[1]; Hjelm, Jr., Rex Paul ^[1]; Hawley, Marilyn E. ^[1]; ^[2]; ^[3]; ^[1]; ^[4]

Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States); National Inst. of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, MD (United States)
Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Arizona State Univ., Tempe, AZ (United States)

Understanding and improving hydrocarbon yields during enhanced oil recovery (EOR) in unconventional reservoirs is complicated by the intrinsic mineralogical and geochemical heterogeneity of shale formations. Here, in this study, we utilized small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) and ultra-small-angle neutron scattering (USANS) to investigate the degree of oil retention and its location in the nanoporous shale matrix for two mineralogically distinct shale samples. The two samples, dubbed “dark” and “light” based on their color, were taken from adjacent strata in a Wolfcamp shale core. While both samples contained kerogen, the dark sample contained more kerogen and clay (43.7 wt %) while the light sample contained more calcite (54.9 wt %). Samples were presaturated with decane, a model hydrocarbon, prior to pressure cycling with methane. Results showed significantly more retention of decane in 1.5–10 nm radius pores of both, likely indicating that oil is retained within kerogen nanopores. Although the dark sample had a higher porosity of 8.7%, versus 3.3% for the light sample, more pores were accessible to decane and a higher percentage of the imbibed decane was removable from the light sample compared to the dark sample. The majority of decane was not recoverable for the dark sample, indicating that EOR with methane can be challenging. These new findings can help to model expected recoveries of in-place oil from heterogeneous shale formations, as well as inform improved EOR strategies.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: National Science Foundation (NSF); USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program; USDOE Office of Fossil Energy (FE)

Grant/Contract Number:: 89233218CNA000001

OSTI ID:: 1972115

Report Number(s):: LA-UR-22-30065

Journal Information:: Energy and Fuels, Journal Name: Energy and Fuels Journal Issue: 7 Vol. 37; ISSN 0887-0624

Publisher:: American Chemical Society (ACS)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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