UC Berkeley

The type and amounts of clays and clay minerals present in typical oil producing formations, which may be candidates for application of enhanced recovery methods, are evaluated. After identification of the clay minerals present, tests are run on the extracted clay fractions to determine their cation exchange capacities, surface areas and chemical loss characteristics. Flood tests are run on extracted cores and then on native oil-bearing core samples to evaluate the magnitude of chemical loss and to note the change in flow characteristics as different fluids, which might be used in enhanced recovery operation, are flowed through the core.