Synthesis of a Superhydrophobic Fluorinated Nano-Emulsion and Its Modification on the Wettability of Tight Sandstone

The water-blocking effect is a serious problem when developing tight sandstone gas reservoirs, which can cause a sharp reduction in gas production. Wettability alteration of near-wellbore sand rock surface from superhydrophilicity to superhydrophobicity is an effective method to decrease capillary pressure. In this study, a superhydrophobic fluorinated nano-emulsion was synthesized via a soap-free emulsion polymerization process using methacryloxyethyl trimethyl ammonium chloride, trifluoctyl methacrylate, and styrene as monomers. The effect of the fluorinated monomer concentration on wettability alteration was evaluated by measuring the contact angle of the formation water droplet on the modified glass slides using nano-emulsions with different fluorinated monomer concentrations. The results showed that the nano-emulsion had a good dispersibility and homogeneous particle size of around 90 nm, and with the increase in fluorinated monomer concentration, the contact angle increased. The contact angle was the largest when the fluorinated monomer mass rate concentration reached 50%. The adsorption of nanoparticles could alter the rock wettability from a super hydrophilic state (θ = 7°) to a superhydrophobic state (θ = 150°). The spontaneous imbibition experiments showed that the formation water adsorption quality of the core decreased by 49.7% after being modified by the nano-emulsion. The nano-emulsion showed a good superhydrophobicity and had the potential to be used to reduce the water-blocking damage in the tight gas reservoirs.