Displacement of shale gas confined in illite shale by flue gas: A molecular simulation study

The shale gas is an unconventional supplementary energy to traditional fossil energy,and is stored in layered rocks with low permeability and porosity,which leads to the difficulty for exploration of shale gas.Therefore,using CO_(2) gas to displace shale gas has become an important topic.In this work,we use molecular simulations to study the displacement of shale gas by flue gas rather than CO_(2),in which flue gas is modeled as a binary mixture of CO_(2) and N_(2) and the shale model is represented by inorganic Illite and organic methylnaphthalene.CH_(4) is used as a shale gas model.Compared to the pure CO_(2),flue gas is easily available and the cost of displacement by flue gas would become lower.Results indicate that the pore size of shale is an important factor in the process of displacing shale gas and simultaneously sequestrating flue gas,while the flue gas N_(2)-CO_(2) ratio shows a small effect on the process of CH_(4) displacement,because the high partial pressure of flue gas is the main driving force for displacement of shale gas.Moreover,the geological condition also has a significant effect on the process of CH_(4) displacement by flue gas.Therefore,we suggest that the burial depth of 1 km is suitable operation condition for shale gas displacement.It is expected that this work provides a useful guidance for exploitation of shale gas and sequestration of greenhouse gas.

A study on the flowability of gas displacing water in low-permeability coal reservoir based on NMR technology

Flowability of gas and water through low-permeability coal plays crucial roles in coalbed methane(CBM)recovery from coal reservoirs.To better understand this phenomenon,experiments examining the displacement of water by gas under different displacement pressures were systematically carried out based on nuclear magnetic resonance(NMR)technology using low-permeability coal samples of medium-high coal rank from Yunnan and Guizhou,China.The results reveal that both the residual water content(W_(r))and residual water saturation(S_(r))of coal gradually decrease as the displacement pressure(P)decreases.When P is 0-2 MPa,the decline rates of W_(r) and S_(r) are fastest,beyond which they slow down gradually.Coal samples with higher permeability exhibit higher water flowability and larger decreases in W_(r) and S_(r).Compared with medium-rank coal,high-rank coal shows weaker fluidity and a higher proportion of irreducible water.The relationship between P and the cumulative displaced water content(W_(c))can be described by a Langmuir-like equation,W_(c)=WLP/(PL+P),showing an increase in W_(c) in coal with an increase in P.In the low-pressure stage from 0 to 2 MPa,W_(c) increases most rapidly,while in the high-pressure stage(P>2 MPa),W_(c) tends to be stable.The minimum pore diameter(d′)at which water can be displaced under different displacement pressures was also calibrated.The d′value decreases as P increases in a power relationship;i.e.,d′the coal gradually decreases with the gradual increase in P.Furthermore,the d′values of most of the coal samples are close to 20 nm under a P of 10 MPa.