Experimental Investigation of Caprock Wettability and Helium-water Interfacial Tension: Implications for Structural Gas Geostorage Capacity Estimation

Authors

  • Yuetong He State Key Laboratory of Petroleum Resources and Engineering, China University of Petroleum (Beijing), Beijing 102249, China
  • Shouceng Tian College of Petroleum, China University of Petroleum (Beijing) at Karamay, Karamay 834000, China https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9034-7504
  • Xianzhi Song State Key Laboratory of Petroleum Resources and Engineering, China University of Petroleum (Beijing), Beijing 102249, China https://orcid.org/0009-0009-5361-0092
  • Gensheng Li State Key Laboratory of Petroleum Resources and Engineering, China University of Petroleum (Beijing), Beijing 102249, China
  • Gang Wang Institute of GeoEnergy Engineering, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh EH14 4AS, United Kingdom https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2987-177X
  • Niklas Heinemann Institut UB-Geomodels, Facultat de Ciències de la Terra, Universitat de Barcelona, c/Martí i Franquès s/n, 08028, Barcelona, Spain https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9474-135X
  • Mujahid Ali Centre for Sustainable Energy and Resources, Edith Cowan University, 270 Joondalup Drive, Joondalup, Australia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9305-9188
  • Faisal Ur Rahman Awan Centre for Sustainable Energy and Resources, Edith Cowan University, 270 Joondalup Drive, Joondalup, Australia https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2394-0735
  • Stefan Iglauer Centre for Sustainable Energy and Resources, Edith Cowan University, 270 Joondalup Drive, Joondalup, Australia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8080-1590
  • Bin Pan State Key Laboratory of Petroleum Resources and Engineering, China University of Petroleum (Beijing), Beijing 102249, China https://orcid.org/0009-0005-2277-6517

Abstract

Helium is a strategic but non-renewable reserve which has important applications in advanced technology areas. Its supply-demand balance is vulnerable to international geopolitics, thus indispensable to store large amounts of helium and one promising storage option is helium geo-storage in porous reservoirs. In this scenario, caprock wettability (characterized by advancing and receding water contact angles, θA and θR) and helium-water interfacial tension are two most important parameters determining structural helium geo-storage capacity. However, relevant experimental data are seriously lacking. Therefore herein, we measured these two parameters and estimated the geo-storage capacity at subsurface conditions. We demonstrated that 1) clay-rich, organic-rich and carbonate-rich caprocks ranged from completely to strongly water-wet (θR ~ 0º - 35º), from strongly water-wet to intermediate-wet (θA ~ 20º - 78º), and from strongly to weakly water-wet (θA ~ 17º - 53º) states, respectively; 2) helium-water interfacial tension fluctuated around 68 – 73 mN/m, irrelevant of pressure; and 3) structural gas geo-storage capacity varied up to twenty times with caprock wettability. This work provides fundamental data for helium geo-storage, thus enabling long-term helium supply-security worldwide.

Article Type: Research Article

Cited as:

He YT, Tian SC, Song XZ, et al. 2026. Experimental Investigation of Caprock Wettability and Helium-water Interfacial Tension: Implications for Structural Gas Geo-storage Capacity Estimation. GeoStorage, 2(2), 98-105.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.46690/gs.2026.02.01

Keywords:

Caprock, wettability, gas-water interfacial tension, helium, geostorage capacity

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Published

2026-03-29

How to Cite

He, Y., Tian, S., Song, X., Li, G., Wang, G., Heinemann, N., … Pan, B. (2026). Experimental Investigation of Caprock Wettability and Helium-water Interfacial Tension: Implications for Structural Gas Geostorage Capacity Estimation. GeoStorage, 2(2), 98–105. https://doi.org/10.46690/gs.2026.02.01

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Vol. 2 No. 2 (2026): June, 2026

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