A numerical investigation of gas flow behavior in two-layered coal seams considering interlayer interference and heterogeneity

Multiple-seam gas coproduction is a technology with potential to achieve economic targets.Physical experiments could replicate gas flow dynamics in two seams.In this study,numerical simulation was conducted based on physical experiments.Through calibration,the simulated results agreed with the experimental results.Three findings were obtained.First,the pressure distribution intrinsically depends on the depressurization effectiveness in each coal seam.The gas pressure difference and interval distance influence the pressure distribution by inhibiting depressurization in the top seams and bottom seams,respectively.Second,the production contribution shows a logarithmic relationship with the permeability ratio.The range of the production contribution difference grows from 11.24%to 99.99%when the permeability ratio increases 50 times.By comparison,reservoir pressure has a limited influence,with a maximum of 13.64%.Third,the interlayer interference of the top seams and bottom seams can be intensified by the reservoir pressure difference and the interval distance,respectively.The proposed model has been calibrated and verified and can be directly applied to engineering,serving as a reference for reservoir combination optimization.In summary,coal seams with a permeability ratio within 10,reservoir pressure difference within 1.50 MPa,and interval distances within 50 m are recommended to coproduce together.

Influence of formation heterogeneity on foam flooding performance using 2D and 3D models:an experimental study

The formation heterogeneity is considered as one of the major factors limiting the application of foam flooding.In this paper,influences of formation properties,such as permeability,permeability distribution,interlayer,sedimentary rhythm and 3D heterogeneity,on the mobility control capability and oil displacement efficiency of foam flooding,were systematically investigated using 2D homogeneous and 2D/3D heterogeneous models under 120°C and salinity of 20×10~4 mg/L.The flow resistance of foam was promoted as the permeability increased,which thus resulted in a considerable oil recovery behavior.In the scenario of the vertical heterogeneous formations,it was observed that the permeability of the high-permeable layer was crucial to foam mobility control,and the positive rhythm appeared favorable to improve the foam flooding performance.The additional oil recovery increased to about 40%.The interlayer was favorable for the increases in mobility reduction factor and oil recovery of foam flooding when the low permeability ratio was involved.For the 3D heterogeneous formations,foam could efficiently adjust the areal and vertical heterogeneity through mobility control and gravity segregation,and thus enhancing the oil recovery to 11%–14%.The results derived from this work may provide some insight for the field test designs of foam flooding.

Numerical simulation of non-Darcian flow through a porous medium

This work reports on fluid flow in a fluid-saturated porous medium, accounting for the boundary and inertial effects in the momentum equation. The flow is simulated by Brinkman-Forchheimer-extended Darcy formulation （DFB）, using MAC （Marker And Cell） and Chorin pressure iteration method. The method is validated by comparison with analytic results. The effect of Reynolds number, Darcy number, porosity and viscosity ratio on velocity is investigated. As a result, it is found that Darcy number has a decisive influence on pressure as well as velocity, and the effect of viscosity ratio on velocity is very strong given the Darcy number. Additional key findings include unreasonable choice of effective viscosity can involve loss of important physical information.