The effect of the fracture distribution on CO 2 injection into coal seams was studied with a heterogeneous model having dual porosity to represent both the primary medium (the coal matrix) and the secondary medium (th...The effect of the fracture distribution on CO 2 injection into coal seams was studied with a heterogeneous model having dual porosity to represent both the primary medium (the coal matrix) and the secondary medium (the fractures) under variable stress conditions. A numerical generation method and a digital image processing method were used to model the heterogeneous fracture distribution in the coal. The model solutions demonstrate that: (1) the fractures are the main channel for gas flow and their distribution has an important impact on the gas injection rate; (2) the fractures only affect the injection rate of CO 2 into the coal but not the final storage amount; (3) when gas is injected into coal the fractures will first expand and then close due to the changing effective stresses and the adsorption induced swelling of coal grains. This fully coupled dual-porosity model with a heterogeneous fracture distribution provides a way to predict the CO 2 injection into a coal seam.展开更多
基金supported by the Chinese National Science Foundation (51104147)the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (2011QNA17)+1 种基金National Basic Research Program of China (2010CB226800)State Key Laboratory for Geo-mechanics and Deep Underground Engineering in China
文摘The effect of the fracture distribution on CO 2 injection into coal seams was studied with a heterogeneous model having dual porosity to represent both the primary medium (the coal matrix) and the secondary medium (the fractures) under variable stress conditions. A numerical generation method and a digital image processing method were used to model the heterogeneous fracture distribution in the coal. The model solutions demonstrate that: (1) the fractures are the main channel for gas flow and their distribution has an important impact on the gas injection rate; (2) the fractures only affect the injection rate of CO 2 into the coal but not the final storage amount; (3) when gas is injected into coal the fractures will first expand and then close due to the changing effective stresses and the adsorption induced swelling of coal grains. This fully coupled dual-porosity model with a heterogeneous fracture distribution provides a way to predict the CO 2 injection into a coal seam.