Pore structure evolution of mudstone caprock under cyclic load-unload and its influence on breakthrough pressure

The pore structure of caprock plays an important role in underground gas storage security, as it significantly influences the sealing capacity of caprock. However, the pore structure evolution of caprock with the cyclic stress perturbations triggered by the cyclic gas injection or extraction remains unclear. In this study, the pore structure changes of mudstone caprock under cyclic loading and unloading were obtained by the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) tests system, then the influence of the changes on the breakthrough pressure of caprock was discussed. The results indicated that the pore structure changes are depending on the stress loading-unloading path and stress level. In the first cyclic, at the loading stage, with the increase of confining stress, the NMR T2 spectrum curve moved to the left, the NMR signal amplitude of the first peak increased, while the amplitude of the second peak decreased gradually. This indicated that the larger pores of mudstone are compressed and transformed into smaller pores, then the number of macropores decreased and the number of micro- and mesopores increased. For a certain loading-unloading cycle, the porosity curve of mudstone in the loading process is not coincide with that in the unloading process, the porosity curve in the loading process was located below that in the unloading process, which indicated that the pore structure change is stress path dependent. With the increase of cycle numbers, the total porosity shown an increasing trend, indicating that the damage of mudstone occurred under the cyclic stress load-unload effects. With the increase of porosity, the breakthrough pressure of mudstone decreased with the increase of the cyclic numbers, which may increase the gas leakage risk. The results can provide significant implication for the underground gas storage security evaluation.

Orbital Forcing and Sea-Level Changes in the Earliest Triassic of the Meishan Section,South China

The Earliest Triassic Yinkeng Formation is exposed at the well-known Meishan Section, South China, which contains the Global Stratotype of Section and Point （GSSP） for the Permian- Triassic boundary （PTB）. It records centimeter-scale rhythmic alternations comprised mainly by marl- stone and limestone. Seven types of couplet embedded in five types of bundles were recognized based on occurrence and thickness of the lithologic units, suggesting that their formation was controlled by cyclic processes. The various orders of cycles observed correlate well with other Early Triassic counterparts recorded in South China. Here, we present new cyclostratigraphic results based on lithologic thickness and relative carbonate content of the Yinkeng Formation. Power spectra of carbonate content show that the ratio of major wavelengths recognized throughout the formation is similar to that of the 100 kyr short eccentricity, 33 kyr obliquity, and 21 kyr precession cycles, indicating that astronomical sig- nals are recorded in the Earliest Triassic rhythmic succession. Consistence between pronounced lithologic rhythmicity and sea-level changes obtained from Fischer plots indicates that high-frequency climatic cycles may have driven sea-level changes immediately after the PTB mass extinction. Fur- thermore, the 4th-order sea-level changes interpreted from the sedimentary record match well with 100 kyr short eccentricity component of carbonate content, reflecting that the 100 kyr short eccentricity- induced climate changes may have likely controlled the deposition of 4th-order sequences recognized from rhythmic successions.

The influences of composition and pore structure on the adsorption behavior of CH_(4) and CO_(2) on shale

CO_(2) enhanced shale gas recovery(CO_(2)-ESGR)has attracted extensive attention as it can improve the shale gas recovery efficiency and sequestrate CO_(2) simultaneously.In this study,the relationship between mineral composition,pore structure,CH_(4) and CO_(2) adsorption behavior as well as selective adsorption coefficient of CO_(2) over CH_(4)(αCO_(2)/CH_(4))in marine and continental shales at different temperatures was investigated.The results illustrated that shale with higher total organic carbon(TOC),higher clay minerals and lower brittle mineral contents has a larger micropores and mesopores volume and specific surface area.TOC content was positively correlated with fractal dimension Df.Both CH_(4) and CO_(2) adsorption capacity in shale have positive correlations with TOC and clay mineral content.CO_(2) adsorption capacity of the all the tested shale samples were greater than CH_(4),and theαCO_(2)/CH_(4) of shale were larger than 1.00,which indicated that using CO_(2)-ESGR technology to improve the gas recovery is feasible in these shale gas reservoirs.A higher TOC content and in shale corresponding to a lowerαCO_(2)/CH_(4) due to the organic matters show stronger affinity on CH_(4) than that on CO_(2).Shale with a higher brittle mineral content corresponding to a higherαCO_(2)/CH_(4),and no obvious correlation betweenαCO_(2)/CH_(4) and clay mineral content in shale was observed due to the complexity of the clay minerals.TheαCO_(2)/CH_(4) of shale were decreased with increasing temperature for most cases,which indicated that a lower temperature is more favorable for the application of CO_(2)-ESGR technique.