Experimental and numerical study of coal mechanical properties during coalification jumps

The mechanical characteristics of coal reservoirs are important parameters in the hydraulic fracturing of coal.In this study,coal samples of different ranks were collected from 12 coal mines located in Xinjiang and Shanxi,China.The coal ranks were identified with by the increased Maximum vitrine reflectance(Ro,max)value.The triaxial compression experiments were performed to determine the confining pressure effect on the mechanical properties of coal samples of different ranks.The numerical approaches,including the power function,arctangent,and exponential function models,were used to find the correlation between coal elastic modulus and the confining pressure.The fitting equations of compressive strength and elastic modulus of coal ranks were constructed under different confining pressures.The results showed that the coal compressive strength of different ranks has a positive linear correlation with the confining pressure.The coal elastic modulus and confining pressure showed an exponential function.Poisson’s ratio of coal and confining pressure show negative logarithmic function.The stress sensitivity of the coal elastic modulus decreases with the increase of confining pressure.The coalification jump identifies that the compressive strength,elastic modulus,and stress sensitivity coefficient of coal have a polynomial relationship with the increase of coal ranks.The inflection points in coalification at Ro,max=0.70%,1.30%,and 2.40%,are the first,second,and third coalification jumps.These findings provide significant support to coal fracturing during CBM production.

Biogenic gas generation effects on anthracite molecular structure and pore structure

This study carries out a simulated experiment of biogenic gas generation and studies the effects of gas generation on the pore structure and molecular structure of anthracite by mercury intrusion porosimetry,X-ray diffraction(XRD)and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(FT-IR).The results show that methanogenic bacteria can produce biogenic gas from anthracite.CO_(2) and CH4 are the main components of the generated biogas.After generation,some micropores(<10 nm)and transitional pores(10–100 nm)in the coal samples transform into large pores.In the high-pressure stage(pressure>100 MPa)of the mercury intrusion test,the specific surface area decreases by 19.79%compared with that of raw coal,and the pore volume increases by 7.25%in total.Microbial action on the molecular structure causes changes in the pore reconstruction.The FT-IR data show that the side chains and hydroxyl groups of the coal molecular structure in coal are easily metabolized by methanogenic bacteria and partially oxidized to form carboxylic acids.In addition,based on the XRD data,the aromatic lamellar structure in the coal is changed by microorganisms;it decreases in lateral size(La)and stacking thickness(Lc).This study enriches the theory of biogenic coalbed gas generation and provides a pathway for enhancing the permeability of high-rank coal reservoirs.