ASPHALTENE ADSORPTION ON KAOLINITE - CHARACTERIZATION BY INFRARED MICROSPECTROSCOPY AND X-RAY-ABSORPTION SPECTROSCOPY

An improved knowledge of rock wettability is of primary importance to estimate the amount of crude oil in underground resources. The Institu t Francais du Petrole has observed that the trapping of oils in sedime ntary rocks is largely correlated to the presence of kaolinite clays i n the rocks' intergranular space. Fourier Transform infrared Microspec troscopy and X-ray Absorption Fine Structure Spectroscopy analysis per formed at the aluminium and silicon K-thresholds on kaolinite wetted b y asphaltene show that oil modifies the local environment of aluminium in this material and more precisely the Al-OH linkage.