Structural characterization of clays and other minerals in unconventional gas and oil resources becomes extremely important in understanding the transport and storage phenomena. Especially, the exploitation of shale-oil can enhance the oil recovery by understanding the fundamental aspects of the interaction between mineral surfaces and oil phase in petroleum reservoir. Among clay minerals abundant in shale rocks, smectite is a key element in predicting fluid migration. The differences of hydration enthalpy and ionic potential of smectite clays can affect their interaction to the oil organic molecules. Ultra-small angle x-ray scattering (USAXS) measurements have been performed on four different cation (K, Na, Ca, Mg) - exchanged montmorillonite samples which were treated with two different crude oils, providing the insight into the structural changes induced by <i>in-situ</i> thermal treatment up to 500 °C. The variation of pore-size distribution and morphological changes were observed and characterizes the interaction between minerals and organics complex fluids confined in nanopores. Additional SAXS experiments revealed the thermal effects on basal spacing of montmorillonite samples, providing a clear view to the evolution of the interlayer sites during the dehydration process.

New insights into thermal effect of crude oil adsorbed clay minerals by <i>in situ</i> USAXS/SAXS study

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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New insights into thermal effect of crude oil adsorbed clay minerals by in situ USAXS/SAXS study