压裂页岩气藏多尺度耦合流动数值模拟研究

在碳达峰的国策背景之下,页岩气成为传统能源向绿色清洁低碳能源转型的重要过渡和能源支点.压后页岩气藏流体流动力学成为高效开发页岩气的关键力学问题.文章将小尺度低导流天然裂缝等效升级为连续介质,建立有机质-无机质-天然裂缝三重连续介质模型,同时对大尺度高导流裂缝采用离散裂缝模型刻画,嵌入天然裂缝连续介质中,构建多重连续/离散裂缝模型.综合考虑吸附气的非平衡非线性解吸附和表面扩散,自由气的黏性流和克努森扩散,给出页岩气在多尺度复杂介质中的非线性耦合流动数学模型.提出多尺度扩展有限单元法对离散裂缝进行显式求解,创新性构建三类加强形函数捕捉离散裂缝的局部流场特征,解决了压后页岩海量裂缝及多尺度流动通道的流动模拟难题.文章提出的模型和方法既能准确刻画高导流裂缝对渗流的影响,又克服了海量多尺度离散裂缝导致计算量增大的问题.通过算例展示了压后页岩各连续介质的压力衰减规律,发现裂缝中自由气、有机质中自由气、无机质中吸附气依次滞后的压力(浓度)扩散现象,重点分析了吸附气表面扩散系数、自由气克努森扩散系数、天然裂缝连续介质渗透率和吸附气解吸附速率对页岩气产量的影响.文章重点解决压后页岩多尺度流动通道的表征和...     

Multi-scale Analysis of Gas Transport Mechanisms in Kerogen

Quantification of natural gas transport in organic-rich shale is important in predicting natural gas production. However, laboratory measurements are challenging due to tight nature of the rock and include large uncertainties. The emphasis of this work is to understand mass transport mechanisms inside the organic nanoporous material known as kerogen under subsurface conditions and describe its permeability. This requires a multi-scale theoretical approach that includes flow measurements in model nanocapillaries and within their network. Molecular dynamics simulation results of steady-state supercritical methane flow in single-wall carbon nanotube are presented in this article. A transition from convection to molecular diffusion is observed. The simulation results show that the adsorbed methane molecules are mobile and contribute a significant portion to the total mass flux in nanocapillaries with diameter \({<}\)10 nm. They experience cluster diffusion that is dependent on the applied pressure drop across the capillary. A modified Hagen–Poiseuille equation is proposed considering the convective–diffusive nature of the overall transport in nanocapillary. The molecular-level study of steady-state transport is extended to a simple network of interconnected nanocapillaries representing kerogen. The modified Hagen–Poiseuille equation leads to a representative elementary volume of the model kerogen. The estimated permeability of the volume is sensitive to compressed and adsorbed fluids density ratio and to surface properties of the nanocapillary walls, indicating that fluid–wall interactions driven by molecular forces could be significant during the large-scale transport within shale. A modified Kozeny–Carman correlation is proposed, relating kerogen porosity and tortuosity to the permeability.     

Multiscale, Multiphysics Network Modeling of Shale Matrix Gas Flows

We present a pore network model to determine the permeability of shale gas matrix. Contrary to the conventional reservoirs, where permeability is only a function of topology and morphology of the pores, the permeability in shale depends on pressure as well. In addition to traditional viscous flow of Hagen–Poiseuille or Darcy type, we included slip flow and Knudsen diffusion in our network model to simulate gas flow in shale systems that contain pores on both micrometer and nanometer scales. This is the first network model in 3D that combines pores with nanometer and micrometer sizes with different flow physics mechanisms on both scales. Our results showed that estimated apparent permeability is significantly higher when the additional physical phenomena are considered, especially at lower pressures and in networks where nanopores dominate. We performed sensitivity analyses on three different network models with equal porosity; constant cross-section model (CCM), enlarged cross-section model (ECM) and shrunk length model (SLM). For the porous systems with variable pore sizes, the apparent permeability is highly dependent on the fraction of nanopores and the pores’ connectivity. The overall permeability in each model decreased as the fraction of nanopores increased.     

A Numerical Study of Microscale Flow Behavior in Tight Gas and Shale Gas Reservoir Systems

Various attempts have been made to model flow in shale gas systems. However, there is currently little consensus regarding the impact of molecular and Knudsen diffusion on flow behavior over time in such systems. Direct measurement or model-based estimation of matrix permeability for these “ultra-tight” reservoirs has proven unreliable. The composition of gas produced from tight gas and shale gas reservoirs varies with time for a variety of reasons. The cause of flowing gas compositional change typically cited is selective desorption of gases from the surface of the kerogen in the case of shale. However, other drivers for gas fractionation are important when pore throat dimensions are small enough. Pore throat diameters on the order of molecular mean free path lengths will create non-Darcy flow conditions, where permeability becomes a strong function of pressure. At the low permeabilities found in shale gas systems, the dusty-gas model for flow should be used, which couples diffusion to advective flow. In this study we implement the dusty-gas model into a fluid flow modeling tool based on the TOUGH+ family of codes. We examine the effects of Knudsen diffusion on gas composition in ultra-tight rock. We show that for very small average pore throat diameters, lighter gases are preferentially produced at concentrations significantly higher than in situ conditions. Furthermore, we illustrate a methodology which uses measurements of gas composition to more uniquely determine the permeability of tight reservoirs. We also describe how gas composition measurement could be used to identify flow boundaries in these reservoir systems. We discuss how new measurement techniques and data collection practices should be implemented in order to take advantage of this method. Our contributions include a new, fit-for-purpose numerical model based on the TOUGH+ code capable of characterizing transport effects including permeability adjustment and diffusion in micro- and nano-scale porous media.     

Understanding Oil and Gas Flow Mechanisms in Shale Reservoirs Using SLD–PR Transport Model

More and more attention has been paid to the oil and gas flow mechanisms in shale reservoirs. The solid–fluid interaction becomes significant when the pores are in the nanoscale. The interaction changes the fluid’s physical properties and leads to different flow mechanisms in shale reservoirs from those in conventional reservoirs. By using a Simplified Local Density–Peng Robinson transport model, we consider the density and viscosity profiles, which result from solid–fluid interaction. Gas rarefaction effect is negligible at high pressure, so we assume it is viscous flow. Considering the density- and viscosity-changing effects, we proposed a slit permeability model. The velocity profiles are obtained by this newly established model. This proposed model is validated by matching the density profile and velocity profile from molecular dynamic simulation. Then, the effects of pressure and pore size on gas and oil flow mechanisms are also studied in this work. The results show that both gas and oil exhibit enhanced flow rates in nanopores. Gas-phase flow in nanopores is dominated by the density-changing effect (adsorption), while the oil-phase flow is mainly controlled by the viscosity-changing effect. Both gas and oil permeability quickly decrease to the Darcy permeability when the slit aperture becomes large. The results reported in this work are representative and should significantly help us understand the mechanisms of oil and gas flow in shale reservoirs.     

A Fractal Model for Gas–Water Relative Permeability in Inorganic Shale with Nanoscale Pores

A reliable gas–water relative permeability model in shale is extremely important for the accurate numerical simulation of gas–water two-phase flow (e.g., fracturing fluid flowback) in gas-shale reservoirs, which has important implication for the economic development of gas-shale reservoir. A gas–water relative permeability model in inorganic shale with nanoscale pores at laboratory condition and reservoir condition was proposed based on the fractal scaling theory and modified non-slip boundary of continuity equation in the nanotube. The model not only considers the gas slippage in the entire Knudsen regime, multilayer sticking (near-wall high-viscosity water) and the quantified thickness of water film, but also combines the real gas effect and stress dependence effect. The presented model has been validated by various experiments data of sandstone with microscale pores and bulk shale with nanoscale pores. The results show that: (1) The Knudsen diffusion and slippage effects enhance the gas relative permeability dramatically; however, it is not obviously affected at high pressure. (2) The multilayer sticking effect and water film should not be neglected: the multilayer sticking would reduce the water relative permeability as well as slightly decrease gas relative permeability, and the film flow has a negative impact on both of the gas and water relative permeability. (3) The increased fractal dimension for pore size distribution or tortuosity would increase gas relative permeability but decrease the water relative permeability for a given saturation; however, the effect on relative permeability is not that notable. (4) The real gas effect is beneficial for the gas relative permeability, and the influence is considerable when the pressure is high enough and when the nanopores of bulk shale are mostly with smaller size. For the stress dependence, not like the intrinsic permeability, none of the gas or water relative permeability is sensitive to the net pressure and it can be ignored completely.     

低渗透煤层气藏中气-水两相不稳定渗流动态分析

针对低渗透煤层渗流问题,考虑启动压力梯度及其引起的动边界和动边界内吸附气解吸作用的渗流模型研究目前仅限于单相流,而更符合实际的气-水两相渗流动边界模型未见报道.本文综合考虑了煤层吸附气的解吸作用、气-水两相渗流、非达西渗流、地层应力敏感等影响因素,进行了低渗透煤层的气-水两相渗流模型研究.采用了试井技术中的"分相处理"方法,修正了两相渗流的综合压缩系数和流度,并基于含气饱和度呈线性递减分布的假设,建立了煤层气藏的气-水两相渗流耦合模型.该数学模型不仅可以描述由于低渗透煤层中渗流存在启动压力梯度而产生的可表征煤层有效动用范围随时间变化的移动边界,还可以描述煤层有效动用范围内吸附气的解吸现象以及吸附气解吸作用所引起的煤层含气饱和度的上升;为了提高模型精度,控制方程还保留了二次压力梯度项.采用了稳定的全隐式有限差分方法进行了模型的数值求解,并验证了数值计算方法的正确性,获得了模型关于瞬时井底压力与压力导数响应的双对数特征曲线,由此分析了各渗流参数的敏感性影响.本文研究结果可为低渗透煤层气藏开发的气-水两相流试井技术提供渗流力学的理论基础.     

页岩有机质纳米孔隙气体吸附与流动规律研究

页岩储层孔隙结构复杂, 气体赋存方式多样. 有机质孔隙形状对受限空间气体吸附和流动规律的影响尚不明确, 导致难以准确认识页岩气藏气体渗流机理. 为解决该问题, 本文首先采用巨正则蒙特卡洛方法模拟气体在不同形状有机质孔隙(圆形孔隙、狭长孔隙、三角形孔隙、方形孔隙)内吸附过程, 发现不同形状孔隙内吸附规律符合朗格缪尔单层吸附规律, 分析了绝对吸附量、过剩吸附浓量、气体吸附参数随孔隙尺寸、压力的变化, 研究了孔隙形状对气体吸附的影响. 在明确不同形状有机质孔隙内气体热力学吸附规律基础上, 建立不同形状有机质孔隙内吸附气表面扩散数学模型和考虑滑脱效应的自由气流动数学模型, 结合分子吸附模拟结果研究了不同孔隙形状、孔隙尺寸有机质孔隙内吸附气流动与自由气流动对气体渗透率的贡献. 结果表明, 狭长孔隙内最大吸附浓度和朗格缪尔压力最高, 吸附气表面扩散能力最弱. 孔隙半径5 nm以上时, 吸附气表面扩散对气体渗透率影响可忽略. 本文研究揭示了页岩气藏实际生产过程中有机质孔隙形状对页岩气吸附和流动能力的影响机制.      

Diffusiophoresis of an aerosol particle in a binary gas mixture

The diffusion force and rate are calculated for the diffusiophoresis of a spherical particle in a binary gas mixture by solving the gas–kinetic equations. Two schemes of diffusiophoresis are considered: constant–pressure diffusion and diffusion of one mixture component through the other fixed component. The problem is solved by the integral–momentum method at arbitrary Knudsen numbers. Diffuse scattering of the gas molecules on the particle surface is assumed. The Lorentzian and Rayleigh models of a binary gas mixture are considered. The dependences of the force and rate of diffusiophoresis on the Knudsen number and the other determining parameters are analyzed. The results obtained are compared with well–known experimental data.     

复杂微通道气体流动的格子Boltzmann模拟

构建了一个模拟复杂微通道内气体流动的多松弛格子Boltzmann模型。该模型采用动力学曲面滑移边界,考虑了微尺度效应和努森层影响。此外,为了更准确地描述微通道内气体的滑移速度,在模型中引入孔隙局部Kn数来代替平均Kn数。之后采用Poiseuille流对模型进行验证,模拟结果与用直接模拟蒙特卡洛方法和分子模拟结果吻合较好,证明了该模型模拟微通道内处于滑移区和过渡区气体流动的有效性。最后,采用该模型模拟多孔介质内气体渗流过程。结果表明,随着孔隙平均Kn数的增加,多孔介质内的高渗区域增加,且优先从小孔隙中开始增加,这是由于小孔隙中微尺度效应更加明显,相对大孔隙流动阻力更小所致。     

Modeling Water Leak-off Behavior in Hydraulically Fractured Gas Shale under Multi-mechanism Dominated Conditions

Fracturing-fluid leak-off in fractured gas shale is a complex process involving multiple pore/fluid transports and interactions. However, water leak-off behavior has not been modeled comprehensively by considering the multi-pores and multi-mechanisms in shale with existing simulators. In this paper, we present the development of a comprehensive multi-mechanistic, multi-porosity, and multi-permeability water/gas flow model that uses experimentally determined formation properties to simulate the fracturing-fluid leak-off of hydraulically fractured shale gas wells. The multi-mechanistic model takes into account water transport driven by hydraulic convection, capillary and osmosis, gas transport caused by hydraulic convection, and salt ion transport caused by advection and diffusion. The multi-porosity includes hydraulic fracture millipores, organic nanopores, clay nanopores, and other inorganic micropores. The multi-permeability model accounts for all the important processes in shale system, including gas adsorption on the organics’ surface, multi-mechanistic clay/other inorganic mineral mass transfer, inorganic mineral/hydraulic fracture mass transfer, and injection from a hydraulically fractured wellbore. The dynamic water saturation and pressure profiles within clay and other inorganic matrices are compared, revealing the leak-off behavior of water in rock media with different physicochemical properties. In sensitivity analyses, cases with different clay membrane efficiency, volume proportion of source rock, connate water salinity, and saturation are considered. The impacts of shale properties on water fluxes through wellbore, hydraulic fracture and matrix, and the total injection and leak-off volumes of the well during the treatment of hydraulic fracturing are investigated. Results show that physicochemical properties in both organic and inorganic matrices affect the water leak-off behavior.     

Shale-Gas Permeability and Diffusivity Inferred by Improved Formulation of Relevant Retention and Transport Mechanisms

A theoretically improved model incorporating the relevant mechanisms of gas retention and transport in gas-bearing shale formations is presented for determination of intrinsic gas permeability and diffusivity. This is accomplished by considering the various flow regimes according to a unified Hagen–Poiseuille-type equation, fully compressible treatment of gas and shale properties, and numerical solution of the non-linear pressure equation. The present model can accommodate a wide range of fundamental flow mechanisms, such as continuum, slip, transition, and free molecular flow, depending on the prevailing flow conditions characterized by the Knudsen number. The model indicates that rigorous determination of shale-gas permeability and diffusivity requires the characterization of various important parameters included in the present phenomenological modeling approach, many of which are not considered in previous studies. It is demonstrated that the improved model matches a set of experimental data better than a previous attempt. It is concluded that the improved model provides a more accurate means of analysis and interpretation of the pressure-pulse decay tests than the previous models which inherently consider a Darcian flow and neglect the variation of parameters with pressure.     

Contribution of the Dusty Gas Model to Permeability/Diffusion Tests on Partially Saturated Clay Rocks

Gas transfer experiments on claystone and numerical simulations have been conducted to enhance the knowledge of gas transport in nuclear waste repositories in the Callovo-Oxfordian clay formation in Bure, France. Laboratory Gas transfer experiments were performed with a specific device dedicated to very low permeability measurement (10^?23 to 10^?20 m²). Experiments were performed on both dry and close to saturation claystone. The Dusty Gas Model, based on multi-component gas transfer equations with Knudsen diffusion, was used to describe the experimental results. The parameters obtained are the effective permeability, the Knudsen diffusion (Klinkenberg effect) and molecular diffusion coefficients and the porosity accessible to gas. Numerical simulations were carried with various boundary conditions and for different gases (helium vs hydrogen) and were compared with experiments to test the reliability of the model parameters and to better understand the mechanisms involved in clays close to saturation. The numerical simulation fitted the experimental data well whereas simpler models cannot describe the complexity of the Knudsen/Klinkenberg effects. Permeabilities lie between 10^?22 and 10^?20 m². Claystones close to saturation have an accessible porosity to gas transfer that is lower than 0.1?C1% of the porosity. Analysis of the Klinkenberg effect suggests that this accessible pore network should be made of 50?C200?nm diameter pores. It represents pore networks accessible at capillary pressure lower than 4?MPa.     

页岩气致密储层渗流模型及压裂直井产能分析

页岩气储层中存在大量的纳微米孔隙,其中气体的流动规律不同于常规气藏. 文章考虑克努森扩散及解吸作用的影响,建立页岩气稳态条件下产能公式,利用渗流阻力法得到了页岩气储层压裂直井产能方程.结合生产实例,进行了数值模拟计算. 结果表明：当裂缝导流能力达到0.12μm²·cm 后,产气量增幅减小,由此对裂缝导流能力进行优化. 游离气产量占总产气量的85%～90%,游离气对总产气量贡献较大. 该模型为页岩气产能预测及开发指标优化提供了理论依据.     

Apparent Permeability and Gas Flow Behavior in Carboniferous Shale from the Qaidam Basin,China: An Experimental Study

Shale can act as an unconventional gas reservoir with low permeability and complex seepage characteristics. Study of the apparent permeability and percolation behavior of shale gas is important in understanding the permeability of shale reservoirs, to evaluate formation damage, to develop gas reservoirs, and to design wells. This study simulated methane percolation at 298.15 K under inlet pressures ranging from 0.2 to 4 MPa and a constant outlet pressure of 0.1 MPa to investigate shale gas percolation behavior and apparent permeability. Five representative shale cores from the Carboniferous Hurleg and Huitoutala formations in the eastern Qaidam Basin, China, were analyzed. Each experiment measured the volume flow rate of methane and the inlet pressure. Pseudopressure approach was used to analyze high-velocity flow in shale samples, and apparent permeability at different pressures was calculated using the traditional method. A nonlinear apparent permeability model that considers diffusion and slippage is established from theory and experimental data fitting, and the shale gas flow characteristics affected by slippage and diffusion are analyzed. The results indicate that the pseudopressure formulation that considers the effect of gas properties on high-velocity flow produces a more accurate linear representation of the experimental data. The apparent gas permeability of shale consists of contributions from Darcy permeability, slippage, and diffusion. The apparent permeability and gas flow behavior in the studied shales strongly depended on pressure. The diffusion contribution increased greatly as pressure decreased from 2 to 0.2 MPa, and the smaller the shale permeability, the greater the relative contribution of diffusion flow. At pressures greater than 2 MPa, slip flow contributes \(\sim \)20% of the total flux, Darcy flow contributes up to 70%, and diffusion makes only a minor contribution. This study provides useful information for future studies of the mechanism of shale gas percolation and the exploration and development of Qaidam Basin shale gas specifically.     

Theoretical and numerical investigations of TAP experiments: new approaches for variable pressure conditions

Temporal analysis of products (“TAP”, see Gleaves et al. in Catal Rev Sci Eng 30:49, 1988) is a valuable tool for characterisation of porous catalytic structures. Established TAP-modelling requires a spatially constant diffusion coefficient and neglect convective flows, which is only valid in Knudsen diffusion regime. A new theoretical model is developed for estimating the number of molecules per pulse to stay in Knudsen diffusion regime under any conditions and at any time. Moreover a new methodology for generating a full three-dimensional geometrical representation of beds is presented and used for numerical simulations. In computational fluid dynamics software (ANSYS CFX^® version 14) a transient diffusive transport equation with time-dependent inlet boundary conditions is solved. Three different pellet diameters were investigated with 1E+18 molecules per pulse, which is higher than the limit from the theoretical calculation (about 1E+15). From this results, the distance from inlet can be calculated where the theoretical pressure limit (Kn = 2) is obtained, i.e., from this point to the end of reactor, Knudsen regime can be assumed.     

微尺度气体流动

了解微尺度气体流动特点是微机电系统设计和优化的基础.有关的研究可以上溯到20世纪初Knudsen的平面槽道流动质量流量的测量和Millikan的小球阻力系数的测量,实验结果揭示了稀薄气体效应即尺度效应对气体运动的重要影响.由于流动特征长度很小,微尺度气流经常处于滑流区甚至过渡领域,流动的相似参数为Knudsen数和Mach数.因此可以考虑利用相似准则,通过增大几何尺寸、减小压力的途径,解决微机电系统实验观测遇到的困难.为解决直接模拟Monte Carlo方法分析微机电系统中低速稀薄气流遇到的统计涨落困难,我们提出了信息保存法(IP),该方法能够有效克服统计散布,并已成功用于多种微尺度气流.      

基于REV尺度格子Boltzmann方法的页岩气流动数值模拟

结合页岩扫描电镜图像,提出页岩气藏物理模型,采用表征单元体积(representative elementary volume,REV)尺度格子Boltzmann方法,考虑滑脱效应,模拟页岩气在页岩气藏中的流动.模拟结果表明,页岩气主要沿着天然裂缝窜进,但在有机质和无机质中也存在缓慢的流动,且有机质中的流速要略大于无机质中的流速.通过改变地层压力,研究地层压力对页岩气渗流特性的影响.研究结果表明,整个流场的速度和渗透率均随着地层压力的下降而增加.     

井筒气液两相流对致密气压裂水平井试井的影响

多段压裂水平井技术是目前开采致密气最常用的方法之一,在致密气压裂水平井试井测试中常常伴随着一定的产水量,井筒气液两相流会增加井筒流体的流动阻力,加大井筒流体流动对试井解释的影响.为了明确井筒气液两相流对致密气藏压裂水平井试井的影响,提高产水致密气压裂水平井的试井解释精度,建立了一种井筒气液两相流与地层渗流耦合的试井模型,采用数值方法对模型进行求解,获得了考虑井筒气液两相流的压裂水平井试井理论曲线、压力场分布及裂缝产量分布.研究结果表明:井筒气液两相流会增加试井理论曲线中压力和压力导数值,造成靠近入窗点的压力扩散要快于远离入窗点的压力扩散,引起靠近入窗点的裂缝产量要高于远离入窗点的裂缝产量.现场实例分析进一步说明,不考虑井筒两相流可能会对产水压裂水平井的试井解释结果产生很大误差,主要表现为水平井筒假设为无限大导流能力会使得拟合得到的表皮系数偏大,将测试点视为入窗点会使得拟合得到的原始地层压力偏小.所建立的考虑井筒两相流的压裂水平井试井模型为产水致密气井试井资料的正确解释提供了重要技术保障.