Formation damage mechanism and control strategy of the compound function of drilling fluid and fracturing fluid in shale reservoirs

For the analysis of the formation damage caused by the compound function of drilling fluid and fracturing fluid,the prediction method for dynamic invasion depth of drilling fluid is developed considering the fracture extension due to shale minerals erosion by oil-based drilling fluid.With the evaluation for the damage of natural and hydraulic fractures caused by mechanical properties weakening of shale fracture surface,fracture closure and rock powder blocking,the formation damage pattern is proposed with consideration of the compound effect of drilling fluid and fracturing fluid.The formation damage mechanism during drilling and completion process in shale reservoir is revealed,and the protection measures are raised.The drilling fluid can deeply invade into the shale formation through natural and induced fractures,erode shale minerals and weaken the mechanical properties of shale during the drilling process.In the process of hydraulic fracturing,the compound effect of drilling fluid and fracturing fluid further weakens the mechanical properties of shale,results in fracture closure and rock powder shedding,and thus induces stress-sensitive damage and solid blocking damage of natural/hydraulic fractures.The damage can yield significant conductivity decrease of fractures,and restrict the high and stable production of shale oil and gas wells.The measures of anti-collapse and anti-blocking to accelerate the drilling of reservoir section,forming chemical membrane to prevent the weakening of the mechanical properties of shale fracture surface,strengthening the plugging of shale fracture and reducing the invasion range of drilling fluid,optimizing fracturing fluid system to protect fracture conductivity are put forward for reservoir protection.

Subsection and superposition method for reservoir formation damage evaluation of complex-structure wells

Kinds of complex-structure wells can effectively improve production,which are widely used.However,in the process of drilling and completion,complex-structure wells with long drilling cycle and large exposed area of reservoir can lead to the fact that reservoir near wellbore is more vulnerable to the working fluid invasion,resulting in more serious formation damage.In order to quantitatively describe the reservoir formation damage in the construction of complex-structure well,taking the inclined well section as the research object,the coordinate transformation method and conformal transformation method are given according to the flow characteristics of reservoir near wellbore in anisotropic reservoir.Then the local skin factor in orthogonal plane of wellbore is deduced.Considering the un-even distribution of local skin factor along the wellbore,the oscillation decreasing model and empirical equation model of damage zone radius distribution along the wellbore direction are established and then the total skin factor model of the whole well is superimposed to realize the reservoir damage evaluation of complex-structure wells.Combining the skin factor model with the production model,the production of complex-structure wells can be predicted more accurately.The two field application cases show that the accuracy of the model can be more than 90%,which can also fully reflect the invasion characteristics of drilling and completion fluid in any well section of complex-structure wells in anisotropic reservoir,so as to further provide guidance for the scientific establish-ment of reservoir production system.

Characterization and prevention of formation damage for fractured carbonate reservoir formations with low permeability

Stress sensitivity and water blocking in fractured carbonate reservoir formations with low permeability were determined as the main potential damage mechanisms during drilling and completion operations in the ancient buried hill Ordovician reservoirs in the Tarim Basin. Geological structure, lithology, porosity, permeability and mineral components all affect the potential for formation damage. The experimental results showed that the permeability loss was 83.8%-98.6% caused by stress sensitivity, and was 27.9%-48.1% caused by water blocking. Based on the experimental results, several main conclusions concerning stress sensitivity can be drawn as follows： the lower the core permeability and the smaller the core fracture width, the higher the stress sensitivity. Also, stress sensitivity results in lag effect for both permeability recovery and fracture closure. Aimed at the mechanisms of formation damage, a modified low-damage mixed metal hydroxide （MMH） drilling fluid system was developed, which was mainly composed of low-fluorescence shale control agent, filtration control agent, lowfluorescence lubricant and surfactant. The results of experimental evaluation and field test showed that the newly-developed drilling fluid and engineering techniques provided could dramatically increase the return permeability （over 85%） of core samples. This drilling fluid had such advantages as good rheological and lubricating properties, high temperature stability, and low filtration rate （API filtration less than 5 ml after aging at 120 ℃ for 4 hours）. Therefore, fractured carbonate formations with low permeability could be protected effectively when drilling with the newly-developed drilling fluid. Meanwhile, field test showed that both penetration rate and bore stability were improved and the soaking time of the drilling fluid with formation was sharply shortened, indicating that the modified MMH drilling fluid could meet the requirements of drilling engineering and geology.

A new laboratory method for evaluating formation damage in fractured carbonate reservoirs

Natural carbonate core samples with artificial fractures are often used to evaluate the damage of fractured carbonate formations in the laboratory. It is shown that the most frequent error for evaluation results directly from the random width characterized by the artificial fractures. To solve this problem, a series of simulated fractured core samples made of stainless steel with a given width of fracture were prepared. The relative error for the width of artificial fracture decreased to 1%. The width of natural and artificial fractures in carbonate reservoirs can be estimated by image log data. A series of tests for formation damage were conducted by using the stainless steel simulated core samples flushed with different drilling fluids, such as the sulfonate/polymer drill-in fluid and the solids-flee drill-in fluid with or without ideal packing bridging materials. Based on the experimental results using this kind of simulated cores, a novel approach to the damage control of fractured carbonate reservoirs was presented. The effective temporary plugging ring on the end face of the simulated core sample can be observed clearly. The experimental results also show that the stainless steel simulated cores made it possible to visualize the solids and filtrate invasion.

Evaluation of formation damages during filter cake deposition and removal process:The effect of primary damage on secondary damage

The properties of oil and gas formation could be significantly damaged during drilling and completion operations as a result of mud invasion,fluid incompatibility and interaction with rock minerals.This paper presents a systematic method for evaluating formation damage during filter cake deposition(primary damage)and removal process(secondary damage).The role of primary damage in the evolution of secondary damage was also investigated.The interaction of the filter cake solvent(chelating agent solution)with the rock samples was implemented through core flooding experiment.Nuclear Magnetic Resonance(NMR)was used to evaluate the properties of the rock sample,pre and post filter cake deposition and removal processes.The results show that secondary damaged is a strong function of the location and the intensity of the primary damage.The rock type and its pore structure also play important roles in both primary and secondary damage.The extent of secondary damage depends on the amount of barium sulphate deposited during primary damage.The chelating agent used to dissolve the barites in sandstones,deposited the barite in the small pores while it enlarges the bigger pores.In contrast,the chelating agent in the carbonate samples had multiple barite deposition points.

Evaluation and prevention of formation damage in offshore sandstone reservoirs in China

Reduction in water injectivity would be harmful to the waterflood development of offshore sandstone oil reservoirs. In this paper the magnitude of formation damage during water injection was evaluated by analyzing the performance of water injection in the Bohai offshore oilfield, China. Two parameters, permeability reduction and rate of wellhead pressure rise, were proposed to evaluate the formation damage around injection wells. The pressure performance curve could be divided into three stages with different characteristics. Analysis of field data shows that formation damage caused by water injection was severe in some wells in the Bohai offshore oilfield, China. In the laboratory, the content of clay minerals in reservoir rock was analyzed and sensitivity tests （including sensitivity to water, ftow rate, alkali, salt and acid） were also conducted. Experimental results show that the reservoir had a strong to medium sensitivity to water （i.e. clay swelling） and a strong to medium sensitivity to flow rate, which may cause formation damage. For formation damage prevention, three injection schemes of clay stabilizer （CS） were studied, i.e. continuous injection of low concentration CS （CI）, slug injection of high concentration CS （SI）, and slug injection of high concentration CS followed by continuous injection of low concentration CS （SI-CI）. Core flooding experiments show that SI-CI is an effective scheme to prevent formation damage and is recommended for the sandstone oil reservoirs in the Bohai offshore oilfield during water injection.

Formation damage control of high permeability sandstone reservoir

The concern on formation damage control of high permeability sandstone reservoir has been growing in oil industry in recent years. The invasion of particles and the filtrate of drilling fluid are proven as one of the key factors accounting for reservoir damage. Based on the ideal packing theory, the practical software has been developed to optimize the blending proportion of several bridging agents, and the core flooding tests were conducted to evaluate return permeability of core samples contaminated with different drilling fluids. Experimental results show that the ideal packing approach can reduce the dynamic filtration rate, improve the return permeability and drawdown the breakthrough pressure, indicating that this kind of drilling fluids can meet the demands of formation damage control for high permeability sandstone reservoirs. Some applying procedures for formation damage control are also proposed in this paper.

Experimental study on the degree and damage-control mechanisms of fuzzy-ball-induced damage in single and multi-layer commingled tight reservoirs

Fuzzy-ball working fluids(FBWFs)have been successfully applied in different development phases of tight reservoirs.Field reports revealed that FBWFs satisfactorily met all the operational and reservoir damage control requirements during their application.However,the damage-control mechanisms and degree of formation damage caused by fuzzy-ball fluids have not been investigated in lab-scale studies so far.In this study,the degree of fuzzy-ball-induced damage in single-and double-layer reservoirs was evaluated through core flooding experiments that were based on permeability and flow rate indexes.Additionally,its damage mechanisms were observed via scanning electron microscope and energy-dispersive spectroscopy tests.The results show that:(1)For single-layer reservoirs,the FBWF induced weak damage on coals and medium-to-weak damage on sandstones,and the difference of the damage in permeability or flow rate index on coals and sandstones is below 1%.Moreover,the minimum permeability recovery rate was above 66%.(2)For double-layer commingled reservoirs,the flow rate index revealed weak damage and the overall damage in double-layer was lower than the single-layer reservoirs.(3)There is no significant alteration in the microscopic structure of fuzzy-ball saturated cores with no evidence of fines migration.The dissolution of lead and sulfur occurred in coal samples,while tellurium in sandstone,aluminum,and magnesium in carbonate.However,the precipitation of aluminum,magnesium,and sodium occurred in sandstone but no precipitates found in coal and carbonate.The temporal plugging and dispersion characteristics of the FBWFs enable the generation of reservoir protection layers that will minimize formation damage due to solid and fluid invasion.

Colloidal Gas Aphrons: A Novel Approach to Preventing Formation Impairment

Colloidal gas aphrons (CGAs) were first reported by Sebba (1971) as micro bubbles (25-125 μm), composed of a gas nucleus surrounded by a thin surfactant film and created by intense stirring of a surfactant solution. Since then, these colloidal dispersions have been used for diverse applications, with a particular focus on separation processes. However, exploitation of CGAs in petroleum industry is only at the outset. CGAs were first used in west Texas in 1998, under the name Aphron drilling fluids. This kind of fluid is characterized as having a continuous phase, a high viscosity at a low shear rate and containing, as an internal phase, micro air or gas bubbles, non-coalescing and recirculating. In this paper, we illuminate the physical and chemical properties of aphron drilling fluid and its processing mechanism.

Structural formation and evolution mechanisms of fracture plugging zone

A coupled CFD-DEM method is used to simulate the formation process of fracture plugging zone.A photo-elastic system characterizing mesoscale force chain network developed by our own is used to model the pressure evolution in fracture plugging zone to reveal the evolution mechanism of the structure of fracture plugging zone.A theoretical basis is provided for improving the lost circulation control effect in fractured reservoirs and novel methods are proposed for selecting loss control materials and designing loss control formula.CFD-DEM simulation results show that bridging probability is the key factor determining the formation of fracture plugging zone and fracture plugging efficiency.Critical and absolute bridging concentrations are proposed as the key indexes for loss control formula design.With the increase of absolute bridging concentration,the governing factor of bridging is changed from material grain size to the combination of material grain size and friction force.Results of photo-elastic experiments show that mesoscale force chain network is the intrinsic factor affecting the evolution of pressure exerting on the fracture plugging zone and determines the macroscopic strength of fracture plugging zone.Performance parameters of loss control material affect the force chain network structure and the ratio of stronger force chain,and further impact the stability and strength of fracture plugging zone.Based on the study results,the loss control formula is optimized and new-type loss control material is designed.Laboratory experiments results show that the fracture plugging efficiency and strength is effectively improved.

Tight sandstone reservoir sensitivity and damage mechanism analysis: A case study from Ordos Basin, China and implications for reservoir damage prevention

Analysis of reservoir sensitivity to velocity,water,salt,acid,alkali and stress is critical for reservoir protection.To study the tight sandstone reservoir sensitivity at different formation depths(effective stress)and formation water conditions(pH,salinity,and fluid velocity),a series of dynamic core flow tests under different pH,salinity,acid,and effective stress conditions were performed on samples from tight sandstone reservoirs of the Upper Triassic Yanchang 8(T_(3)y^(8))Member and conventional reservoirs of the Middle-Lower Jurassic Yan'an 9(J_(1-2)y^(9))Member in the Ordos Basin.The results indicate that,compared with the conventional reservoirs,the tight sandstone reservoirs are more sensitive to velocity and stress,less sensitive to water,alkali and salinity,and respond better to acid fracturing.In addition,the critical conditions(salinity,velocity,pH,and stress)for pumping drilling,completion,and fracturing fluids into tight sandstone reservoirs were investigated.A combination of scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy-dispersive spectrometry(SEM-EDS),cathodoluminescence(CL),casting thin section(CTS)and nuclear magnetic resonance(NMR)images,high-pressure mercury injection capillary pressure(MICP)measurements as well as X-ray fluorescence spectral(XRF)analyses were employed to analyze the damage mechanisms of the conventional reservoirs(J_(1-2)y^(9))and tight sandstone reservoirs(T_(3)y^(8))caused by fluid invasion.The results suggest that reservoir sensitivity is primarily conditioned by the composition of detrital components and interstitial fillings,petrophysical properties,pore-throat structure,and diagenetic facies.All these factors control the sensitivity types and extent of the reser-voirs.Our results indicate that the poorer the reservoir physical properties,the stronger the reservoir heterogeneity and sensitivity,implying that tight sandstone reservoirs are more susceptible to changes in fluids than conventional reservoirs.This study offers insights into the reservoir damage types and helps to improve the design and implementation of protection measures for tight sandstone reservoir exploration.

Developing a phenomenological model to simulate single and mixed scale formation during flow in porous media:Coupling a salt precipitation model with an ion transport equation under dynamic conditions

Water flooding and pressure maintenance are recommended to improve oil recovery practices after low recovery of petroleum reservoirs occurs during primary production.Salt crystal formation is a frequent occurrence when using these techniques.Several experimental,numerical,and theoretical studies have been done on the mechanisms underlying scaling and permeability reduction in porous media;however,there has not been a satisfactory model developed.This study developed a phenomenological model to predict formation damage caused by salt deposition.Compared with existing models,which provide a scaling tendency,the proposed model predicts the profile of scale deposition.The salt precipitation model simulates reactive fluid flow through porous media.A thermodynamic,kinetic,and flow hydrodynamic model was developed and coupled with the ion transport equation to describe the movement of ions.Further,a set of carefully designed dynamic experiments were conducted and the data were compared with the model predictions.Model forecasts and experimental data were observed to have an average absolute error(AAE)ranging from 0.68%to 5.94%,which indicates the model's suitability.

Cutting force model and damage formation mechanism in milling of 70wt%Si/Al composite

High-mass fraction silicon aluminium composite(Si/Al composite) has unique properties of high specific strength, low thermal expansion coefficient, excellent wear resistance and weldability. It has attracted many applications in terms of radar communication, aerospace and automobile industry. However, rapid tool wear resulted from high cutting force and hard abrasion, and damaged machined surfaces are the main problem in machining Si/Al composite. This work aims to reveal the mechanisms of milling-induced damages of 70wt% Si/Al composites. A cutting force analytical model considering the characteristics of both the primary silicon particles and the cutting-edge radius was established. Milling experiments were conducted to verify the validity of the model. The results show that the analytical model exhibits a good consistency with the experimental results, and the error is about 10%. The cutting-edge radius has significant effects on the cutting force, surface roughness and damage formation. With the increase in the cutting-edge radius, both the cutting force and the surface roughness decrease firstly and then increase. When the cutting-edge radius is 27 μm, the surface roughness(Sa) reaches the minimum of 2.3 μm.Milling-induced surface damages mainly contain cracks, pits, scratches, matrix coating and burrs.The damage formation is dominated by the failure mode of primary silicon particles, which includes compressive breakage, intragranular fracture, particle pull-out, and interface debonding. In addition, the high ductility of aluminium matrix leads to matrix coating. This work provides guidance for tool selection and damage inhibition in high-efficiency and high-precision machining of high mass fraction Si/Al composites.

Sulfur deposition in sour gas reservoirs:laboratory and simulation study

Sulfur deposition in the formation, induced by a reduction in the solubility of the sulfur in the gas phase, may significantly reduce the inflow performance of sour gas wells and some wells in sour gas reservoirs have even become completely plugged with deposited sulfur within several months. Accurate prediction and effective management of sulfur deposition are crucial to the economic viability of sour gas reservoirs. In this paper, a dynamic flow experiment was carried out to investigate formation damage resulting from sulfur deposition using an improved experimental method. The core sample was extracted from the producing interval of the LG2 well, LG gas field in the Sichuan Basin. The experimental temperature was 26 °C and the initial pressure was 19 MPa. The displacement pressure continuously decreased from 19 to 10 MPa, and the depletion process lasted 15 days. Then the core was removed and dried. The core mass and core permeability were measured before and after experiments. Experimental results indicated that the core mass increased from 48.372 g before experiment to 48.386 g afterwards, while the core permeability reduced from 0.726 to 0.608 md during the experiment. Then the core was analyzed with a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray mapping. The deposition pattern and micro-distribution of elemental sulfur was observed and the deposited elemental sulfur distributed as a film around the pore surface.

A phase inversion polymer coating to prevent swelling and spalling of clay fines in coal seam gas wells

We report a phase inversion polymer coating as a novel concept with potential to prevent clay swelling and fines generation in coal seam gas, or other petroleum, wellbores. Our approach uses polyethersulfone （PES） with N-methyl-2- pyrrolidone （NMP） as a water-soluble solvent to form a dense, low-porosity film across the clay-rich interburden layers, but a porous and permeable membrane on coal seams. This contrasting behaviour occurs because the coal contains much more free water than the clay-rich interburden layers. We demonstrate the efficacy of the method to prevent clay spalling in immersion tests and under a flow of fresh water in a visual swell test apparatus. The clay-rich rocks studied were mudstone and siltstone, and these were dip coated in the PES/NMP solution. The uncoated mudstone swelled and broke apart quickly in the immersion test and visual flow test, but the PES coated rock samples were stable for 30 days. The coated rock and coal samples were characterised by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The morphology of coated mudstone and coated coal samples showed that the polymer formed a dense layer across the low-permeability mudstone, but an open porous structure on the coal surface. The effect of the coating on the permeability of KCl brine through coal was measured in a core-flood apparatus. Although the permeability of the coal showed some deterioration after coating, from （0.58 ± 0.12） mD to （0.3 ±0.03） mD, these results demonstrate the potential of a smart polymer coating to prevent clay swelling while remaining permeable to gas and water on coal layers.

Preparation and properties of magnesium oxysulfate cement and its application as lost circulation materials

Loss of drilling fluids in large porous and fractured zones inevitably up-regulates the overall cost of drilling.As a type of acid-soluble cement,magnesium oxysulfate(MOS)cement is arousing huge attention for the less hygroscopic nature and less damaging to steel casings compared with magnesium oxychloride(MOC)cement.The present study developed MOS cement as a fast setting,high strength and acid-soluble lost circulation material to reduce the problem of losses.As suggested in this study,a higher strength of MOS cement at 70℃could be achieved by elevating M_(g)O/MgSO_(4)·7 H_(2)O molar ratio or downregulating H_(2)O/MgSO_(4)·7 H_(2)O molar ratio.Boric acid and borax could act as effective retarders.Plugging slurry based on MOS cement could effectively block the simulated porous loss zones exhibiting a diameter from 1.24 mm to 1.55 mm,as well as the fractured loss zones with a width from 2 mm to 5 mm and bearing a pressure difference up to 8 MPa.Permeability recovery test demonstrated that it facilitated future oil and gas production.The successful field application in the Junggar Basin,Xinjiang,China verified the significant plugging effect of MOS cement for severe loss problems.

Designing Drill-in Fluids by Using Ideal Packing Technique

Selecting bridging agents properly is a critical factor in designing non-damaging or low-damaging drill-in fluids. Historically, Abrams＇ rule has been used for this purpose. However, Abrams＇ rule only addresses the size of particle required to initiate a bridge. The rule does not give an optimum size nor an ideal packing sequence for minimizing fluid invasion and optimizing sealing. This paper elaborates an ideal packing approach to solving the sealing problem by sealing pores with different sizes, especially those large pores which usually make dominant contribution to permeability and thereby effectively preventing the solids and filtrate of drill-in fluids from invading into formations, compared with the conventionally used techniques. Practical software has been developed to optimize the blending proportion of several bridging agents, so as to achieve ideal packing effectiveness. The method and its use in selecting the best blending proportion of several bridging agents are also discussed in this paper. A carefully designed drill-in fluid by using the ideal packing technique （named the IPT fluid） for offshore drilling operations at the Weizhou Oilfield, Nanhai West Company, CNOOC is presented. The near 100% return permeabilities from the dynamic damage tests using reservoir cores demonstrated the excellent bridging effect provided by this drill-in fluid.

New Pore Pressure Evaluation Techniques for LAGIA-8 Well, Sinai, Egypt as a Case Study

Drilling into a geopressured zone will generally cause a change in a number of basic formation/ drilling relationships. This change is usually seen as a reversal of a gradual depth related trend in a lithologically uniform formation. Of all the geophysical methods, the reflection seismic method is essentially the only technique used to predict pore pressures. The seismic method detects changes of interval velocity with depth from velocity analysis of the seismic data. These changes are in turn related to lithology, pore fluid type, rock fracturing and pressure changes within a stratigraphic column. When the factors affecting the velocity are understood for a given area, a successful pressure prediction can be made. For clastic environments such as the Tertiary section of the Gulf of Mexico or the Niger delta, the interval velocity of the rocks increases with depth because of compaction. In these areas, deviations from normal compaction trends are related to abnormally high pore pressures. The adapted methods provide a much easier way to handle normal compaction trend lines. In addition to well log methods, pressure detection can be obtained via drilling parameters by applying Eaton’s DXC methods. Seismic velocities have long been used to estimate pore pressure, indeed both these quantities are influenced by variations in rock properties such as porosity, density, effective stress and so on, and high pore pressure zones are often associated with low seismic velocities. Pressure prediction from seismic data is based on fundamentals of rock physics and seismic attribute analysis. This paper hence tries to assess the use of seismic waves as a viable means to calculate pore pressure, especially in areas where no prior drilling history can be found. Then we applied these methods on LAGIA-8 well, Sinai, Egypt as a case study. Pore pressure prediction from Seismic is a very essential tool to predict pore pressure before drilling operation. This could prevent the well problem as well blowout and to prevent formation damage, especially in areas where no prior drilling history can be found.

New Pore Pressure Evaluation Techniques for LAGIA-8 Well, Sinai, Egypt as a Case Study

Drilling into a geopressured zone will generally cause a change in a number of basic formation/ drilling relationships. This change is usually seen as a reversal of a gradual depth related trend in a lithologically uniform formation. Of all the geophysical methods, the reflection seismic method is essentially the only technique used to predict pore pressures. The seismic method detects changes of interval velocity with depth from velocity analysis of the seismic data. These changes are in turn related to lithology, pore fluid type, rock fracturing and pressure changes within a stratigraphic column. When the factors affecting the velocity are understood for a given area, a successful pressure prediction can be made. For clastic environments such as the Tertiary section of the Gulf of Mexico or the Niger delta, the interval velocity of the rocks increases with depth because of compaction. In these areas, deviations from normal compaction trends are related to abnormally high pore pressures. The adapted methods provide a much easier way to handle normal compaction trend lines. In addition to well log methods, pressure detection can be obtained via drilling parameters by applying Eaton’s DXC methods. Seismic velocities have long been used to estimate pore pressure, indeed both these quantities are influenced by variations in rock properties such as porosity, density, effective stress and so on, and high pore pressure zones are often associated with low seismic velocities. Pressure prediction from seismic data is based on fundamentals of rock physics and seismic attribute analysis. This paper hence tries to assess the use of seismic waves as a viable means to calculate pore pressure, especially in areas where no prior drilling history can be found. Then we applied these methods on LAGIA-8 well, Sinai, Egypt as a case study. Pore pressure prediction from Seismic is a very essential tool to predict pore pressure before drilling operation. This could prevent the well problem as well blowout and to prevent formation damage, especially in areas where no prior drilling history can be found.

Investigation of pore structure alteration and permeability enhancement of shale matrix by supercritical water treatment after hydraulic fracturing

Shale gas reservoirs are unconventional tight gas reservoirs,in which horizontal wells and hydraulic fracturing are required to achieve commercial development.The fracture networks created by hydraulic fracturing can increase the drainage area extensively to enhance shale gas recovery.However,large volumes of fracturing fluid that is difficult to flow back to the surface and remained in the shale formation,will inevitably lead to damages of the shale formations and limit the effectiveness of stimulation.Supercritical water(SCW)treatment after hydraulic fracturing is a new method to enhance shale gas recovery by using appropriate heat treatment methods to the specific formation to convert the retained fracturing fluid into a supercritical state(at temperatures in excess of 373.946°C and pressures in excess of 22.064 MPa).An experiment was conducted to simulate the reaction between shale and SCW,and the capacity of SCW treatment to enhance the permeability of the shale was evaluated by measuring the response of the shale porosity and permeability on SCW treatment.The experimental results show that the shale porosity and permeability increase by 213.43%and 2198.37%,respectively.The pore structure alteration and permeability enhancement of the shale matrix were determined by analyzing the changes in pore structure and mineral composition after SCW treatment.The mechanisms that affect pore structure and mineral composition include oxidative catalysis decomposition of organic matters and reducing minerals,acid-catalyzed decomposition of carbonate minerals and feldspar minerals,hydrothermal catalysis induced fracture extension and cementation weakening induced fracture extension.SCW treatment converts harm into a benefit by reducing the intrusion of harmful substances into the shale formation,which will broaden the scope and scale of shale formation stimulation.