Patent ID: 8812271

Claim:
A method of designing an injectate to be used in a waterflooding operation, the method implemented on system hardware, the method comprising: specifying data representative of chemical characteristics of a liquid hydrocarbon, a connate, and a reservoir rock, of a subterranean reservoir; determining charged species at an interface of the liquid hydrocarbon based on the specified data by evaluating at least one chemical reaction involving the charged species at the interface of the liquid hydrocarbon; determining charged species at an interface of the reservoir rock based on the specified data by evaluating at least one chemical reaction involving the charged species at the interface of the reservoir rock; determining an extent of surface complexation between the charged species at the interfaces of the liquid hydrocarbon and the reservoir rock by evaluating at least one surface complexation reaction; and designing the injectate to be operable to decrease the extent of the surface complexation between the charged species at the interfaces of the liquid hydrocarbon and the reservoir rock; wherein designing the injectate comprises designing a pH and an ionic strength of the injectate.