Effects of Clay Minerals and External Pressures on Imbibition in Shales

Imbibition is an important mechanism of recovery during waterflooding and low flow-back during fracking in shale reservoirs. Experiments were carried out to study the development of imbibition in shale samples. The effects of clay minerals, especially the illite and IS, were mainly investigated and discussed. The imbibition under different pressures was conducted and compared. The influence of clay minerals on imbibition in shale is significant and complex. It is shown that the low content of illite and IS and small capillary force lead to small imbibition mass and speed. Formation of new micro fractures due to the swelling of clay minerals can cause the permeability to increase and the imbibition to be speeded up. The pore structure, the content of IS, and the capillary force affect the imbibition process significantly. The external pressure obviously affects the imbibition speed and the final imbibition mass. The content of clay minerals is more important to the formation of new micro fractures than the external pressure. There is a peak in the curve of displacement efficiency versus the content of either clay minerals or illite and IS. The effect of illite and IS more remarkable.