Waterflooding injectate design systems and methods

1. A method of designing an injectate for recovering a liquid hydrocarbon from a reservoir rock, comprising:

measuring physico-chemical data representative of electrostatic interactions between the liquid hydrocarbon and the reservoir rock;

selecting a composition of the injectate based on the physico-chemical data, wherein the composition comprises at least one additive, or at least one removable component, or both;

preparing the injectate by mixing water with the at least one additive, or by removing a portion of the at least one removable component from the water, or both;

estimating an extent of sorption between the reservoir rock and the liquid hydrocarbon in response to the injectate; and

designing the injectate to decrease the extent of sorption between the reservoir rock and the liquid hydrocarbon;

wherein estimating the extent of sorption comprises:

preparing an oil sample that is representative of the liquid hydrocarbon;

measuring a baseline color of the oil sample;

preparing a mixture of the oil sample, the injectate, and connate water;

allowing the mixture to equilibrate;

measuring an equilibrium color of the mixture; and

comparing the baseline color to the equilibrium color to estimate the extent of sorption between the reservoir rock and the liquid hydrocarbon.

2. The method of claim 1 , comprising selecting the composition of the injectate based at least in part on an acid number and a base number of the liquid hydrocarbon, a pH, salinity, or calcium concentration of connate water, an estimated expansion of a swelling clay of the reservoir rock, an extent of mineral dissolution of the reservoir rock in response to the injectate, or any combination thereof.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the oil sample comprises bitumen.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein preparing the oil sample comprises crushing the bitumen into a powder form.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein preparing the oil sample comprises:

measuring an acid number of the oil sample;

measuring a base number of the oil sample;

measuring an acid number of the liquid hydrocarbon;

measuring a base number of the liquid hydrocarbon; and

adding nitrogen base groups to the oil sample to substantially equalize respective acid to base number ratios of the oil sample and the liquid hydrocarbon.

6. A method of selecting an injectate for recovering a liquid hydrocarbon from a reservoir rock, comprising:

preparing a plurality of injectates by mixing water with at least one additive, or by removing a portion of at least one removable component from the water, or both;

estimating an extent of sorption between the reservoir rock and the liquid hydrocarbon in response to each injectate of the plurality of injectates; and

selecting a candidate injectate from the plurality of injectates based on a desired sorption between the reservoir rock and the liquid hydrocarbon;

wherein estimating the extent of sorption comprises:

preparing an oil sample that is representative of the liquid hydrocarbon;

preparing a mixture of the oil sample, the injectate, and connate water;

separating the oil sample from the injectate and connate water;

washing the oil sample with a solvent;

measuring a concentration of dissolved solids within the solvent; and

estimating the extent of sorption between the reservoir rock and the liquid hydrocarbon using the concentration of dissolved solids; and

wherein the oil sample comprises bitumen; and

wherein preparing the oil sample comprises crushing the bitumen into a powder form.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein preparing the plurality of injectates comprises selecting a composition of the injectate based at least in part on an acid number and a base number of the liquid hydrocarbon, a pH, salinity, or calcium concentration of connate water, an estimated expansion of a swelling clay of the reservoir rock, an extent of mineral dissolution of the reservoir rock in response to the injectate, or any combination thereof.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein preparing the oil sample comprises:

measuring a concentration of nitrogen base groups in the liquid hydrocarbon; and

adding nitrogen base groups to the bitumen to substantially equalize the concentration of nitrogen base groups in the bitumen and the liquid hydrocarbon.