Comparative study between Botucatu and Berea sandstone properties

•We examined the similarities between the physicochemical properties of Berea and Botucatu sandstones.•The Botucatu sandstone profile is adequate to coreflood tasks as the other not Brazilian sandstones.•Critical salt concentrations for permeability loss were determined for Botucatu sandstone.•We created a literature not yet existent for Botucatu sandstone and its use as matrix for coreflood tests.

The aim of the present study is the analysis and comparison between Berea and Botucatu sandstone, concerning the problems with regard to the loss of permeability or water sensitivity or loss of hydraulic conductivity due to the presence of swelling or non-swelling clays. Some porous volumes of synthetic seawater of different salinities were displaced through the porous media of Berea and Botucatu formations. It was observed that even the plugs of Berea, with no-swelling clays in their composition, had the permeability reduced as soon as the brine salinity reached a lower limit. As expected, the same occurred with the Botucatu sandstone samples, however, in this case,the sensitivity to the low salinity was much more effective.

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