Experimental Investigation of Microwave Radiation on the Reservoir Rock Wettability and Oil Viscosity

Oil production from unconventional oil reservoirs is facing many problems, such as high oil viscosity and low oil recovery# so, there is a need to apply modern technologies to improve oil production# nowadays, electromagnetic heating is a new method that attracted researchers’ attention# despite the studies that have been done so far, this technique still has many challenges to use in field applications, such as the effect of electromagnetic radiation on the reservoir rock wettability and oil viscosity# therefore, in this study, the effect of microwave radiation on rock wettability and oil viscosity is investigated experimentally# the relation between irradiation time, contact angle and oil viscosity is also presented# results showed that the carbonate rock wettability changes from 159º to 75º, and there is an optimum irradiation time to decrease the oil viscosity and contact angle simultaneously# it was proved that microwaves could reduce oil viscosity from 840 cp to 745 cp until 10 minutes irradiation# then oil viscosity begins to increase#