Productivity enhancement in multilayered coalbed methane reservoirs by radial borehole fracturing

Coalbed methane(CBM)is an important unconventional natural gas.Exploitation of multilayered CBM reservoir is still facing the challenge of low production rate.Radial borehole fracturing,which integrates radial jet drilling and hydraulic fracturing,is expected to create complex fracture networks in multilayers and enhance CBM recovery.The main purpose of this paper is to investigate the mechanisms and efficacy of radial borehole fracturing in increasing CBM production in multiple layers.First,a two-phase flow and multi-scale 3 D fracture network including radial laterals,hydraulic fractures and face/butt cleats model is established,and embedded discrete fracture model(EDFM)is applied to handle the complex fracture networks.Then,effects of natural-fracture nonuniform distribution are investigated to show the advantages of targeted stimulation for radial borehole fracturing.Finally,two field CBM wells located in eastern Yunnan-western Guizhou,China were presented to illuminate the stimulation efficiency by radial borehole fracturing.The results indicated that compared with vertical well fracturing,radial borehole fracturing can achieve higher gas/water daily production rate and cumulative gas/water production,approximately 2 times higher.Targeted communications to cleats and sweet spots and flexibility in designing radial borehole parameters in different layers so as to increase fracture-network complexity and connectivity are the major reasons for production enhancement of radial borehole fracturing.Furthermore,the integration of geology-engineering is vital for the decision of radial borehole fracturing designing scheme.The key findings of this paper could provide useful insights towards understanding the capability of radial borehole fracturing in developing CBM and coal-measure gas in multiple-thin layers.

Simulation study of supercritical carbon dioxide jet fracturing for carbonate geothermal reservoir based on fluid-thermo-mechanical coupling model

Geothermal energy is a kind of renewable,sustainable and clean energy resource.Geothermal energy is abundant in carbonate reservoirs.However,low matrix permeability limits its exploitation.The super-critical carbon dioxide(SC-CO_(2))jet fracturing is expected to efficiently stimulate the carbonate geothermal reservoirs and achieve the storage of CO_(2) simultaneously.In this paper,we established a transient seepage and fluid-thermo-mechanical coupled model to analyze the impact performance of sc-CO_(2) jet fracturing.The mesh-based parallel code coupling interface was employed to couple the fluid and solid domains by exchanging the data through the mesh interface.The physical properties change of sC-CO_(2) with temperature were considered in the numerical model.Results showed that SC-CO_(2) jet frac-turing is superior to water-jet fracturing with respect to jetting velocity,particle trajectory and pene-trability.Besides,stress distribution on the carbonate rock showed that the tensile and shear failure would more easily occur by SC-CO_(2) jet than that by water jet.Moreover,pressure and temperature control the jet field and seepage field of sC-CO_(2) simultaneously.Increasing the jet temperature can effectively enhance the impingement effect and seepage process by decreasing the viscosity and density of SC-CO_(2).The key findings are expected to provide a theoretical basis and design reference for applying SC-CO_(2) jet fracturing in carbonate geothermal reservoirs.

Enhance liquid nitrogen fracturing performance on hot dry rock by cyclic injection

Producing complex fracture networks in a safe way plays a critical role in the hot dry rock (HDR) geothermal energy exploitation. However, conventional hydraulic fracturing (HF) generally produces high breakdown pressure and results only in single main fracture morphology. Furthermore, HF has also other problems such as the increased risk of seismic events and consuption of large amount of water. In this work, a new stimulation method based on cyclic soft stimulation (CSS) and liquid nitrogen (LN2) fracturing, known as cyclic LN2 fracturing is explored, which we believe has the potential to solve the above issues related to HF. The fracturing performances including breakdown pressure and fracture morphology on granites under true-triaxial stresses are investigated and compared with cyclic water fracturing. Cryo-scanning electron microscopy (Cryo-SEM) tests and X-ray computed tomography (CT) scanning tests were used for quantitative characterization of fracture parameters and to evaluate the cyclic LN2 fracturing performances. The results demonstrate that the cyclic LN2 fracturing results in reduced breakdown pressure, with between 21% and 67% lower pressure compared with using cyclic water fracturing. Cyclic LN2 fracturing tends to produce more complex and branched fractures, whereas cyclic water fracturing usually produces a single main fracture under a low number of cycles and pressure levels. Thermally-induced fractures mostly occur around the interfaces of different particles. This study shows the potential benefits of cyclic LN2 fracturing on HDR. It is expected to provide theoretical guidance for the cyclic LN2 fracturing application in HDR reservoirs.

Performances of a Stinger PDC cutter breaking granite: Cutting force and mechanical specific energy in single cutter tests

The Stinger PDC cutter has high rock-breaking efficiency and excellent impact and wear resistance, which can significantly increase the rate of penetration (ROP) and extend PDC bit life for drilling hard and abrasive formation. The knowledge of force response and mechanical specific energy (MSE) for the Stinger PDC cutter is of great importance for improving the cutter's performance and optimizing the hybrid PDC bit design. In this paper, 87 single cutter tests were conducted on the granite. A new method for precisely obtaining the rock broken volume was proposed. The influences of cutting depth, cutting angle, and cutting speed on cutting force and MSE were analyzed. Besides, a phenomenological cutting force model of the Stinger PDC cutter was established by regression of experimental data. Moreover, the surface topography and fracture morphology of the cutting groove and large size cuttings were measured by a 3D profilometer and a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Finally, the rock-breaking mechanism of the Stinger PDC cutter was illustrated. The results indicated that the cutting depth has the greatest influence on the cutting force and MSE, while the cutting speed has no obvious effects, especially at low cutting speeds. As the increase of cutting depth, the cutting force increases linearly, and MSE reduces with a quadratic polynomial relationship. When the cutting angle raises from 10° to 30°, the cutting force increases linearly, and the MSE firstly decreases and then increases. The optimal cutting angle for breaking rock is approximately 20°. The Stinger PDC cutter breaks granite mainly by high concentrated point loading and tensile failure, which can observably improve the rock breaking efficiency. The key findings of this work will help to reveal the rock-breaking mechanisms and optimize the cutter arrangement for the Stinger PDC cutter.

Experimental investigation of tubing collar's influence on hydrodynamic behavior of annular duct flow

Tubing collars’influence on hydrodynamic behavior of annular duct flow has been investigated using Particle Image Velocity(PIV)technology.PIV has become an efficient method for complex transient flows visualization.A water flow loop with two replaceable variable cross-sections(VCS),75-90 mm and 90-110 mm,in a 129 mm inner diameter(ID)pipe was used.The whole field of the variable cross-section annulus(VCSA)was visualized,including forward-facing step(FFS),narrow annulus(NA),and backwardfacing step(BFS)flow.The VCSA ratio and Reynolds(Re)number influence on streamline distribution,velocity distribution,and turbulence intensity were discussed.Results showed that the recirculation is easier to form in BFS than FFS flow under the same condition.The VCSA ratio affects the formation of recirculation zones and the location of the reattachment point.Reynolds number mainly affects BFS flow by influencing the main velocity component-axial velocity.The turbulence intensity is relatively high in BFS than FFS flow and is larger at y/h>1.0 than y/h<1.0.Furthermore,the streamwise cohere nt structures reveal that the first two modes are predominant and represent the main characteristics of the flow by proper orthogonal decomposition(POD)method.

Rock mechanical properties of coal in cryogenic condition

Liquid nitrogen(LN2)fracturing is a kind of non-aqueous fracturing technology,which is expected to provide a new and efficient way for coalbed methane(CBM)development.The mechanical properties of coal under LN_(2) freezing are very important for studying the mechanism of LN2 fracturing.However,most of the current research is limited to studying mechanical properties of rocks after being frozen by LN2 and returned to room temperature.In this paper,the effect of LN2 freezing on the mechanical properties of coal was studied.Uniaxial strength tests and Brazil tests were carried out for dry and water-saturated coal samples with different types and bedding directions.In addition,standard electron microscopy(standard SEM)and cryo-electron microscopy(Cryo-SEM)were used to compare the fracture morphology of coal samples at room temperature and LN_(2) temperature.The results showed that LN_(2) freezing can damage and improve the mechanical properties of coal simultaneously.The strength of saturated coal under freezing is higher than that of dry coal,and the filling of ice can enhance the mechanical strength of coal.In addition,the mechanical properties of coal with higher porosity are enhanced more than that of coal with lower porosity under LN_(2) freezing.The main findings of this study are the keys to the research of LN_(2) fracturing mechanisms in CBM reservoirs.