Captive droplet interfacial tensiometer and methods of use thereof

Abstract

A method and an apparatus for determining the interfacial or surface tension, static or dynamic, between two liquids or between a gas and a liquid under conditions of varying temperature and pressure; and a method for adjusting the interfacial or surface tension in a petroleum reservoir for enhanced oil recovery. A tensiometer is provided which is capable of measuring interfacial or surface tension under pressure and temperature conditions which simulate those present in an actual petroleum reservoir. Measuring the interfacial and surface tension values under actual reservoir conditions then enables the selection of surfactants and other materials for adjusting the interfacial and surface tension to desired values for optimizing the enhanced oil recovery from that reservoir. A tensiometer is provided which includes a calibration body which is imaged along with the image of the test droplet in the tensiometer chamber. This imaging of both the calibration body and the test droplet provides the capability of correction of distortions in the image due to the nature of the chamber window for high pressure and/or high temperature measurements. The tensiometer is also provided with a surface against which the test droplet is imaged and measured, which is an annealed ionomer polymer coating on a polymer surface.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.