In this study, the controvertial concept of wettability alteration of quartz surfaces in the presence of supercritical CO2 is investigated. Wettability here is assessed in terms of advancing and receding contact angles. A novel experimental setup was developed, validated, and used to study the variations of contact angles in CO2-water-quartz systems due to changes in temperature and pressure relevant to geological sequestration of CO2 in subcritical and supercritical states. The results show that supercritical CO2 alters the wettability of quartz surface towards less water-wet conditions compared to subcritical CO2  .  Also we observe an increase in water receding contact angles with increasing temperature indicating less water-wet quartz surfaces at higher temperatures. An important implication of this study is that deep saline aquifers will have lower cap rock threshold pressures and smaller amounts of trapped CO2 phase than shallow aquifers with similar brine compositions.

Wettability alteration of quartz with supercritical CO<sub>2</sub>

245th National Meeting (2013)

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Wettability alteration of quartz with supercritical CO2

Wettability alteration of quartz with supercritical CO₂