{
  "abstract": "Smart-water flooding has emerged as a promising enhanced oil recovery (EOR) technique for improving oil production from heterogeneous carbonate reservoirs. This study experimentally evaluates engineered smart-brine injection using five carbonate core plugs from the WQ1-57 oilfield under high-pressure and high-temperature (HPHT) conditions. Three flooding scenarios were investigated sequentially: formation-water flooding, treated-water flooding, and engineered smart-water flooding. Core-flooding experiments were performed to evaluate cumulative oil recovery, differential pressure (ΔP), relative permeability, and effluent-ion behavior. Formation-water flooding produced oil recovery factors ranging from 31.7% to 50.4% OOIP, which increased to 41.2%-57.1% OOIP after treated-water injection and further improved to 47.2%-65.0% OOIP following smart-water flooding, corresponding to an incremental recovery of 16.8–28.9% OOIP over the formation-water case. Relative permeability analysis demonstrated a shift toward more water-wet conditions, accompanied by lower residual oil saturation and improved water-flow characteristics. Effluent-ion analysis confirmed the participation of Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, and SO₄²⁻ in fluid-rock interactions responsible for wettability alteration. The results also indicated that the tested cores exhibited pronounced permeability heterogeneity (17–1020 mD) compared with the relatively narrow porosity range (19.4–29.3%), resulting in differences in flow behavior and recovery response. The observed recovery improvement demonstrates the potential of engineered smart-water flooding under the investigated HPHT laboratory conditions. Further reservoir-specific investigation, numerical simulation, economic assessment, and pilot-scale validation are required before field implementation.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 2,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Ahmed Al Alwan"
    },
    {
      "name": "Ehsan Khamehchi"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/67p7hj1rstwcq.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1038/s41598-026-74497-1",
  "fulltext_url": "https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-74497-1",
  "id": "67p7hj1rstwcq",
  "issns": [
    "2045-2322"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-026-74497-1",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC-ND 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "lcc",
      "Q"
    ],
    [
      "lcc",
      "R"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2212|Enhanced Oil Recovery Techniques"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7220405271",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-026-74497-1.pdf",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-05",
  "publisher": "Springer Science and Business Media LLC",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/67p7hj1rstwcq.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:17:22Z",
      "native_id": "10.1038/s41598-026-74497-1",
      "source": "crossref",
      "url": "https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-026-74497-1"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T13:45:58Z",
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      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-74497-1"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "lcc:R",
      "subfield": "general"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Experimental evaluation of smart water flooding in heterogeneous carbonate reservoirs under high pressure and high temperature for enhanced oil recovery",
  "title_text": "Experimental evaluation of smart water flooding in heterogeneous carbonate reservoirs under high pressure and high temperature for enhanced oil recovery",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T13:45:58Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/67p7hj1rstwcq",
  "venue": "Scientific Reports",
  "versions": []
}