Influencing Factors and Application of Spontaneous Imbibition of Fracturing Fluids in Tight Sandstone Gas Reservoir

[Image: see text] This work is based on high-precision fluid spontaneous imbibition experiments to quantitatively study the imbibition rate, imbibition capacity, and imbibition curve characteristics of fracturing fluids in tight sandstone reservoirs. The objective of the work is to explore the influence of tight sandstone physical characteristics, fracturing fluid composition, salinity, viscosity, surface tension on fracturing fluid imbibition, and further analyze its main controlling factors. To evaluate imbibition characteristics more deeply, the pore throat structure and micromorphology of tight sandstone before and after imbibition were described by mercury intrusion test and scanning electron microscope test, respectively. Furthermore, the mineral composition and dilatation characteristics of the tight sandstone samples were identified by XRD and a linear dilatometer, respectively. The results show that the drilled tight sandstone samples from the Shaximiao Formation reservoir have strong heterogeneity, high clay mineral content, more developed micro/nanopores, less developed fractures, and strong hydration expansion. Since the average pore throat radius of tight sandstone samples is between 0.1 and 0.2 μm, the imbibition driving force is strong. The imbibition rate is fast, and the imbibition basically reaches a steady state within 24 h, which makes the imbibition capacity basically greater than 50%. Based on the analysis of the main control factors of imbibition, the surface tension of the fluid properties has the greatest impact on the imbibition recovery factor. The result not only helps to understand the absorption mechanism of fracturing fluid in tight sandstone reservoirs and then evaluates the degree of interaction between fluid and tight sandstone but it is also crucial for the prediction of flowback rate.